


Un-Rising

by musesmistress, TheNox_Lya



Series: True Destiny [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Reality, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-05-13 09:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14746580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesmistress/pseuds/musesmistress, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNox_Lya/pseuds/TheNox_Lya
Summary: Arriving in Atlantis for the first time was very exciting for them all. There was so much to see and explore, so much to learn - if only things weren't about to go horribly wrong.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> We started this story years ago - it's part of a series called True Destiny - but it has been abandoned for a long time due to health issue for both of us. We are trying hard to get back to it and hopefully won't have to abandon it again. Lucky for you, we have 3 stories completed and ready to go!
> 
> Sadly, we couldn't find a beta for these stories so any mistakes (no matter how many times we've read these stories to remind ourselves) are our fault and we are sorry for them.

Elizabeth Weir stood in her new Atlantean office and looked down over the gate room. She was very aware of her surroundings at the moment, the soft, low hum of the advanced city reverberated around her, she couldn't feel it, it didn't vibrate like a machine usually did, but the power flow was still loud enough to be heard and not be disturbing. The smooth walls of the structure were beautiful and eloquently decorated, not overpoweringly done and not simple enough to be dull. She had already been thinking about hanging paintings and tapestries in her office and putting up a shelf for ornaments and statues, but that didn't seem possible anymore.

Below her, the gate sat static, Colonel Sumner and Major Sheppard had taken a team through over six hours ago and no one had reported back yet. Stopping the search of the city had only gained them a few hours of power and talk about abandoning the city had started to filter through the expedition members. She didn't want to leave. This was their purpose; being right here in this city was the whole point of leaving Earth in the first place. They didn't know anything about the galaxy or its people and there was less chance of contacting the SGC again in a year or two if they walked away now.

Out the corner of her eye she'd watched Peter Grodin and Rodney McKay arguing as they worked, but the work had stopped a few minutes ago and they seemed to be debating something, maybe which of them was going to tell her she had no choice. They had to leave.

They turned towards her and started across the bridge as a few members of the control staff started to pick up the cases lining the bridge. She waited for Rodney and Peter to reach the door before she turned to face them.

"Tell me some good news, Rodney," she said hoping he actually had something that would keep them here.

"I can't do that," he said with a touch of venom.

"The shield has held back the ocean for centuries," she said wishing that just saying it would make the shield hold out for a few more.

"And probably would have kept going for years more, but our arrival changed that. Now it's nothing more than a thin shell between the buildings and the water."

"We stopped exploring."

"Well, the damage was already done. I mean, another section of the city in the far side was flooded an hour or so ago," Rodney said.

"Even occupying this room is draining power," Peter added.

"We need to evacuate the moment Colonel Sumner reports back it's safe," Rodney said and her eyes came up to look at him.

"You're saying we have to abandon the city?"

Almost as soon as she finished speaking a low rumble started and the ground began to shake. The city itself was telling her to leave, that it was over before they had even begun. She didn't want to go, she doubted anyone did, leaving here now, would be stepping away from Earth permanently.

"The sooner we leave, the longer that shield holds," Rodney said.

"Make sure everything's ready," she said wishing she didn't have to give in like this. All the scientist brain power at her disposal and no answers, she couldn't blame them, they had no idea about the technology yet. She turned back to the gate to wait for Colonel Sumner's report.

~~**~~

John Sheppard and Teyla were walking towards the encampment, after visiting the caves. It was nearly dark already and he had to watch the ground to see where to place his feet. He was glad that things between them and the Athosians seemed to work out. Teyla at least was open for conversation and she tried to understand his culture, just as he tried to understand hers. The drawings in the cave varied from very primitive to very detailed, but each told the same story. An alien race feeding on humans, culling as Teyla put it. The thought alone made him shiver.

Suddenly, Teyla stopped and gazed at the ground. She seemed to focus on something and when they heard strange sounds in the distance, her eyes shot open to look sharply at him.

"What is it?" he asked and listened to the shrieking sounds coming from the sky.

"The Wraith!" she called out and started running as fast as she could towards the encampment.

His heart skipped at least one beat before he responded and followed her through the forest. His eyes turned from the sky to the ground, scanning the forest in front of him. He tried to locate where the sound was coming from as he ran as fast as he could after Teyla.

"Teyla!" He called out and hoped she would slow down a bit. He was afraid she was running in blind panic to the encampment, not knowing what she would find there. But, she didn't stop and swung herself around another tree and another before John lost track of her. He stopped and looked around him attempting to find her. He turned his head when an alien ship flew over him. He looked up and saw the triangle shape fly back towards the encampment.

"Teyla?" he called out and scanned the area around him in search of her.

A white wispy ghost-like shadow suddenly moved between the trees. At first, there was one shadow, but soon there was a second. As quickly as the shadows showed up, they disappeared, only to reappear again even closer to him. He felt surrounded by the unknown presences closing in on him rapidly. He fired his gun, but the bullets seem to pass the entity without harming it. Bewildered he looked around and saw another shadow appear in front on him. He aimed his gun, but before he could pull the trigger, Teyla stepped through the shadow and walked straight towards him.

"They're not really there," she said and tried to make him change his focus.

He stared at her in amazement not knowing what to think of it. A few weeks earlier, he wouldn't have even dreamed about standing here in another galaxy, facing an enemy that would actually farm humans. Just as he didn't believe in ghosts, but these shadows surely looked like them.

"Do not trust your eyes. The Wraith can make you see things that are not there. We must hurry," she continued.

He got the message and confirmed briefly that he understood their current position in the attack before they continued to run towards the encampment. In the distance, he heard the alien ships high-pitched shrieks fill the night sky. When they got closer to the encampment, they heard people shouting in panic. Gunfire echoed through the forest and the smell of scorched wood made it to his nose. They weren't far from the settlement, but avoiding the ships flying over made it necessary to follow a path around instead of in a straight line.

A thought came to mind that his team members had the same problem and were wasting their ammunition chasing ghosts. He activated his radio to broadcast. "Colonel, this is Sheppard. What you see on the ground is just an illusion. Concentrate on firing on the ships," he said urging him to listen to his advice.

His ear filled with chaotic sounds from the battle being fought in the encampment. People running around, guns being fired and explosions after weapons impact. "Fire on the ships! Fire on the ships!" he heard Colonel Sumner yell at the team before the radio turned off.

Within a matter of seconds, he saw the impact in the sky not far from his position. One of the alien ships exploded into pieces. The other two ships flew over and activated their beams. He hadn't had time to ask Teyla but figure this was their way of capturing people, like the nets he saw in the drawings.

He and Teyla kept running and suddenly one of the alien ships was right behind them. John heard the high-pitched shrieking, combined with the loud roaring from the aft burners. He felt the heat from the transporter beam closing in fast and saw it cast the entire area in a bright light. He jumped to the side and landed in a thick layer of fallen leaves when the beam swooped by. The trail the beam had followed, lead a couple of yards away from him, before it turned off.

Slightly disoriented he lifted his head and scanned the ground. "Teyla?" he called out but didn't see her. "Teyla!" Again, he didn't see her or get any response to his calls. As quickly as possible, he climbed to his feet and headed towards the encampment.

After a few steps, his radio activated and Sergeant Stevens hailed him. "Sir, the Colonel's been taken."

The aliens had taken not only Teyla, but also Colonel Sumner. He had no time to consider his reasons for accepting the mission again, but the thought crossed his mind nevertheless. All he could do now was try to save as many people as possible. He passed the wreckage from one of the alien ships when his radio activated again.

"The Gate's coming on again. Two enemy ships approaching." Lieutenant Ford announced and waited for orders.

It seemed as if the attack was over and the enemy was retreating. He was unsure how many people they had captured, but couldn't do anything to save them from his current position. "Let 'em go," he ordered clearly. "We've got friendlies on board. Look at the dialling device. Burn those symbols into your mind," he added, quickly determining this was all they could do for now. Hopefully, they would be able to locate the planet where they had taken the prisoner and set up a rescue mission.

~~**~~

It was barely half an hour later when Elizabeth got the call from Doctor Grodin to meet her a few levels down. She took the stairs slowly, taking in the area around her and unwillingly guessing at what parts of the construct were using power. She found Peter standing in front of a large window, his PDA in hand and his brow furrowed slightly. She stopped next to him and waited.

"Here it comes," he said.

"What am I looking for?" she asked just as something outside glowed and an air bubble popped in to life and floated up away from the city.

"There," he said. "Another part of the force field just failed. I don't think we have much time."

She stared at the area for a moment more before nodding and turning to make her way back to the control room.

"Find anyone outside the designated areas, we're leaving."

When she entered the control room, Rodney was frantically darting from computer to computer doing calculations. She paused for a moment to watch him; he moved fast and stayed focused on his job, probably because his life was in danger at the moment.

"How are we doing?" she asked.

"The city's sacrificing parts of itself in order to maintain these main areas, but catastrophic failure is inevitable," Rodney said changing machine again.

"Not in my wildest dreams did I hope to find the Lost City of the Ancients, so completely untouched, so pristine, and we have no choice but to walk away from this?"

"In order to save it."

"To save it for whom? We don't have enough power to send a message. As far as Earth is concerned, we're just going to be missing, presumed lost."

"We'll be back," Rodney protested. "We'll find a power source somewhere in Pegasus."

"We have yet to hear from Colonel Sumner. We have no idea what's out there," this was one last desperate attempt to find a way to stay.

"We can't wait. It's time to go now."

Elizabeth turned. Right here was the last hope of learning something, of finding a defence for Earth; for contacting them again. She moved to the balcony to look down over the gate room for a moment before activating her radio.

"Attention all personnel, this is Weir," she paused as the ground shook. "Stand by for immediate evacuation," she switched off the radio and turned to Rodney. "Dial the gate!"

~~**~~

John stopped running and looked around the wreckage. Some parts of the ship had fallen into the lake while most of it lay spread over a substantial area on the bank. Many of the pieces were on fire and electric sparks shot from the debris. The air was filled with smoke and gases from the fire, but the smell of burned flesh dominated the air. A moving plate caught his attention. He turned around and looked in horror as he saw an alien-looking hand, severed just below the elbow. The hand dragged itself along with its fingers through the sand.

"Son of a..." he said while he instinctively aimed his gun and pulled the trigger. He briefly checked the hand before pulling the trigger again, making sure the hand wasn't moving any longer.

A sound coming from the shoreline made him turn around. He aimed his gun and stood face to face with Jinto, one of the Athosian boys.

"Help! Help me!" the boy called out in panic.

He turned back to the hand, which now lay motionless in the sand. This was not what he had expected when he signed the papers in Doctor Weir's hotel room.

"I can't find my father," Jinto said with tears in his eyes.

To reassure the boy he laid his hand on his shoulder and wondered what he had gotten into. "We'll find him," he said and checked the debris again. He sighed and knew he should get to the encampment to see what the damage was and take it from there. These people could not stay here. It was very possible that those aliens would return. He gently pushed Jinto in the direction of the burning buildings that not long ago were the edge of the encampment and contained the food supply.

~~**~~

The ground shook again and Elizabeth grabbed hold of the railing. The city jerked slightly and she pressed against it before turning and moving through the control room.

"Pack it up," she shouted. She couldn't stop to see people start to move.

"Doctor Weir," Lieutenant Cadman said, she turned to her. "There are ships up in the bay above us, we should save some."

"Take someone with you, go find out if you can fly them," she said. "If you can get two out that'll be a great start."

"The shield's failing," Rodney shouted.

"Where did you dial?" she demanded moving to grab the end of a box while one of the technicians grabbed the other. Half way across the control room, someone took it from her.

"Same planet Colonel Sumner's on."

"Colonel Sumner," she said activating her radio on the military frequency. "Colonel Sumner, please respond."

There was a moment of crackling before a voice came back to her.

"Doctor Weir, this is Lieutenant Ford. Colonel Sumner has been captured by an enemy, Sheppard and team are out of your range," he said.

"Lieutenant, we are abandoning..." she paused and the city lurched again and she hit the ground hard, her hip stinging as she fell. Chuck pulled her to her feet as Rodney started to shout about water flooding the corridors. "We're abandoning Atlantis; Expedition members are heading your way." She turned and took the steps down to the gate room. "Grab what you can and get through the gate, now," she called shutting off her radio. "Watch out for the ships," she shouted as an afterthought.

She turned and ran back up the stairs, a wave of dizziness tilting the room at the same time the city shifted. Rodney stood staring at the monitor and she turned to watch as several members of the expedition became trapped and then blinked out as the water flooded their location. It was a second later that she realised just how close it was to the tower. She heard a buzzing and someone shouting down in the gate room and turned as one of the ships lowered into the gate room.

"The shield is currently concentrated around the control tower," Grodin offered.

"Get out," she said and turned to Peter, "now." She pushed him towards the stairs. "Everyone out," she shouted as she darted across the bridge to her office. She watched the second jumper with Sergeant Wiggill in command lower into the gate room before she grabbed her bag and swung around to head back. The city lurched and her side door cracked open slight. Water started to pour into her office buckling the door with the pressure.

"Elizabeth," Rodney shouted, turning her attention back to him and she caught sight of water starting to pour slowly down into the gate room.


	2. Two

Even before John had reached the first building, his radio activated again and Lieutenant Ford's voice sounded in his ear. "Sir, we've got word from Atlantis, they are evacuating."

He thought or actually hoped he had misheard what Ford had told him. His hand hit his earpiece and activated his radio. "What, they can't!" He exclaimed.

"Sir, we have incoming expedition members."

"No, they can't!" What were they thinking? This planet wasn't a safe place to evacuate too. He knew for sure Colonel Sumner hadn't contacted Atlantis to inform them of the situation. He sighed and motioned someone to come and look after Jinto. "I'm on my way," he told Ford and started running in the direction of the Stargate.

Something had to have happened for them to leave Atlantis in a rush, without even considering the safety on the planet. He rushed out of the forest and reached the clearing. To his amazement, he saw a large number of people gathered near the gate with supplies. A low humming made him look up and he saw a spaceship hanging above him in the sky. His view trailed off to the left, where another space ship had landed. "Wow," he said to himself. With some haste, he continued to run towards the Stargate and stopped near Lieutenant Ford, who was helping the people coming through the Stargate.

~~**~~

Elizabeth ran, moving quickly across the bridge and almost tripping over the few remaining boxes, she pushed Chuck ahead of her down the stairs and threw her backpack through the gate behind him. She looked back, watching the last of the people rush past her as Rodney quickly unplugged his laptop back in the control room. The ceiling above her creaked and she looked up, studying the gaps in the roof, a star pattern gaping slightly where the jumpers had come through. It looked as though they hadn't had enough time to close before the bay flooded.

The city creaked again and she had a moment of watching the ceiling fail before something struck her hard and she fell flat on her back on the grass of another planet with Rodney hovering over her. She took a deep, painful breath and felt the bile rise in her chest. She shoved Rodney to the side and rolled over before the taste became too much and she threw up.

Carson was at her side instantly and she could hear others around her muttering as they watched the doctor pull her up to sit against a box.

~~**~~

"What's...?" John managed to say before he saw Doctor Weir and Rodney fall from the puddle into the grass. For mere seconds nothing happened and he stood still, still confused about why the whole expedition had come here. In the distance he saw Doctor Weir push Rodney away and turn on to her hands and knees. He saw her vomit and Doctor Becket responded automatically.

John scanned the area for a brief second, before heading to Doctor Weir to ask her about the situation.

"You alright?" he asked her feeling unsettled.

~~**~~

"Yes," Elizabeth said, her voice tight and croaky from the pain in her chest and vomiting. She shifted against the storage box and looked around at the many concerned faces.

"Good. Now, why are you here?"

"Look at me," Carson said and she met his eye. He tilted her chin to check her pulse and then moved to the side as one of his nurses approached with a bottle of water.

"Well," Rodney said and she could hear the level of panic in his voice. "Let's see, the shield failed and the ocean came crashing down on us."

"You're kidding me, right?" John said looking between her and Rodney.

"Oh yes," Rodney said sarcastically. "I make stuff like this up all the time just to mess with your head."

"Yeah, and it's a whole lot better here," Ford said with just as much sarcasm.

She shook her head trying to control the onslaught of emotions that flooded her. They were cut off, completely stranded in the Pegasus Galaxy with no friends, limited food and medical supplies and apparently an enemy who had taken Colonel Sumner. Atlantis was flooded. She'd seen the water start to crash down on the control room moments before Rodney had tackled her through the gate. Hopes of ever seeing Simon or her mother again were back in the now completely underwater city and it made the bile rise in her throat again.

"We had no choice," she said hoarsely before taking a sip of the water.

"You don't understand," John spat. "We've been under attack here. You should have asked before arranging a mass evacuation."

"We didn't exactly get the time to exchange pleasantries, Major," she said, perhaps with a little too much of a snarl in her tone.

"If the enemy were still here more people could have died," he said driving her frustration levels up as Carson attempted to listen to her breathing and heart rate.

"And if we'd stayed there we would be under several thousand foot of water by now. You don't get to make that call, Major," she spat his rank out purposely to remind him that he wasn't in charge.

"Doc," John said turning to Carson. "Make sure she's good to go." Elizabeth growled in frustration at his disregard for her authority. "We have to leave as soon as possible," he added to her.

"Why?"

"Cause we're not sticking around to find out when they're coming back," John said, his dangerously low voice made her shiver. "We're sitting ducks here with all our supplies near the Stargate. I'm not risking more people getting captured than the ones we've already lost and neither should you. So as soon as you're on your feet, we're leaving," he paused to watch her bat Carson probing hand away from her stomach. "I'll make sure the Athosians are prepared."

"The Athosians aren't our responsibility," she said as he turned away. She had enough to worry about instead of adding a settlement of people to her list of concerns.

"Well, we can't just leave them here," he said with a wave of his hand and walked away with Ford close behind him.

"This is why I had a Colonel," she said batting Carson's hand away again.

Arguments with her staff and sitting through a health check-up were the last things she needed. They didn't have any gate addresses to gate to and she had yet to work out how many people had been lost in the flood. She wanted to cry, scream, kick and go back in time to stop herself from leaving - or to get the Ancients to set some sort of device that pushed the city to the surface when they arrived. She wasn't going to get that luxury and right now she couldn't be seen as weak in front of a whole expedition of people who were probably just as scared.

The only difference between her and them was the fact that she was responsible for their deaths.

~~**~~

Atlantis Expedition Report. Elizabeth Weir.  
It's a shame to lose people, especially when you don't know them, when you don't know what they can do or how useful they could have been to such an extraordinary mission. But loss happens and for those fortunate enough to have survived, we must carry on and remember the names of those we left behind.

We remember those who died in the evacuation of Atlantis:  
Louis Bernardi (Belgium), Niko Esko (Finland), Nurse Manou Liekens (Belgium), Major Lara Morris (USA), Marine Corpral Jackie Williams (USA), Marine Corpral Owen Hill (USA), Sergeant Leon Billick (Portugal), Emirhan Yilmaz (Turkey), Claudia Dumais (USA), Craig Johnson (UK), Isobel Vargas (Spain), Giovanni Ricci (Italy), Nina Baumann (Germany).

~~**~~

Only ten more people to come through the Stargate. John had been counting and keeping track of supplies until Rodney had joined him. Rodney had taken over the flow of supplies and surprisingly had a system to order them. However, his manners could still use some fine-tuning.

Meanwhile his task had been concentrated to counting people and making sure the perimeter surrounding the Stargate was safe. Jinto had told him these were friendly and shy people, but until he had actually spoken to them, he wouldn't put his trust in them.

Another group of six people came through the gate. Among them were two Athosians who were helping carry supplies. This meant that there were only four people left on Athos, Doctor Weir, Doctor Beckett and the two Marines he had ordered to stay behind until the last ones had come through. In anticipation of the doctors coming through, he headed for the gate.

He didn't have to wait long before Doctor Weir and Doctor Beckett stepped out of the event horizon, laden with the last medical bags. She still didn't look too well. Her face was pale and she had to stabilize herself before coming to him. He made a mental note to make sure Doctor Beckett kept an eye on her. The last thing he needed today was the leader of the expedition falling ill.

"You're not allergic to gate travel are you?" John asked when she had reached him.

She glared at him, ignoring his remark, but her eyes betrayed her, telling him she was annoyed with his comments. "This way Doctor Weir," he said and waved in the direction of Rodney. She moved away from him and he silently asked Doctor Beckett if she was alright. The doctor nodded, but said nothing concrete before turning to join a group of nurses and started to get things in order.

John had already arranged for the people with minor cuts and bruises to report to Doctor Keller. Luckily, there were no very serious injuries, despite everything these people had been through.

He'd lost track of Doctor Weir and turned to scan the area for a glimpse of her, she wasn't that small that she could hide, but supplies were scattered around the area making it hard to find her. In anticipation, he headed for Rodney and assumed she was going there too. He found Elizabeth standing near Rodney and they seemed to be discussing something on Rodney's laptop.

"Mind if I drop in," John said and looked at both of them.

"Sure. Rodney was just telling me that all parameters on this planet are well within the safety margins."

"Yeah, you see...," Rodney started and turned the laptop around.

"Not now Rodney," he said. "I'm glad everything is okay, but we should get things settled. Jinto said the village is only a couple of miles away. Maybe we should go and talk to these people."

"Okay," she sighed.

He could see she wasn't eager to take a long hike and he scanned around for one of the doctors. Something was telling him she still wasn't well and he wanted to make sure a doctor would check on her now that they were safe.

Her head turned in the same direction as his and her eyes searched for his focus point. "I have set up a defence perimeter around this place," he said diverting her view to some positions on the nearby hills. "A few of my men are on strategic points overlooking the area." She looked distrustful, as if she knew what he was thinking. It was probably one of the abilities that distinguished her from other diplomats, but it was actually creeping him out. The IOA had decided she would be an excellent leader for this expedition, with her diplomatic background. Her reputation was exceptional; where other failed she had been successful in establishing treaties.

"Do you want me to go and talk to these people?" he asked and saw her think about the proposal.

"I need to get things organised here so if you wouldn't mind. Try not to offer them anything we can't spare, manpower would probably be the best bet."

"I'll take two men with me and leave the rest here for security. We'll keep in radio contact every thirty minutes and if something happens we'll head straight back here." Maybe his words sounded too protective, but he had no choice. Going alone with Jinto to the village would be too dangerous and taking too many men with him, would leave the expedition vulnerable.

"Good luck, Major." She said and turned her attention back to Rodney, who was practical prancing from excitement. He didn't pay attention to it and knew that if it was a major breakthrough he would hear it eventually.

He walked away while activating his earpiece. "Captain Còffie, Sergeant Stackhouse, report to me at the Stargate in five minutes."

He got confirmations from both men before he reached Doctors Beckett and Keller. Doctor Beckett was busy organizing his staff, while Doctor Keller was applying some stitches to one of the cooks.

"Doc, can I have a word," he said, causing them both to look at him. He should have expected that response.

"Aye," Doctor Beckett said and directed his attention to John.

John hinted for some privacy and Doctor Beckett followed him, patting Doctor Keller on her shoulder. She looked back at him before returning her attention to the needle in her hand.

"How's Doctor Weir?" John asked, heading in the direction of the Stargate.

"Well she was a little dizzy and nauseous, but other than that I've not been able to determine anything wrong with her."

"You're sure?"

"I would have to do a blood test to be sure, but her vital signs are good. Maybe her blood pressure is a little high, but I won't know for sure until I have access to her medical file. It could be normal for her."

He halted and looked at the doctor. "Keep an eye on her while I'm gone. We need her healthy."

"I will," Doctor Beckett reassured him before they parted ways.


	3. Three

Three times John had to warn Jinto to stay behind him. That boy was very eager to get to the village and didn't seem to worry about anything. He was young and still needed to learn that sometimes you have to be cautious. However, it was not his place to teach him, but it was his job to keep him in one piece.

Jinto had explained that the Athosians traded with these people every season, mostly exchanging food for clothes. The leader of the village was a man named Sebilsk. A tall and strong man, who tended to be unpleasant when drunk. At least that's what Jinto had heard from others speaking about him. In anticipation of this John had taken two strong men along with him and was glad Elizabeth had other things to do in the camp. They probably wouldn't have any trouble, but he wanted to make an authoritative impression on their first meeting. If something went wrong they would still have their guns for backup, but he wasn't ready to think about that option.

The sand path gradually wound up the hill. The many and widely spread footprints made it clear that many people travelled along this path. On their way up, they came across a few branches in the road. He trusted Jinto and let him lead the way. Every thirty minutes he checked in with the camp and so far, everything seemed calm.

The sun was setting rapidly and some patches of fog started to emerge from the damp soil. In the valley below, he could see lights turning on in the camp. The camp was currently settled near the Stargate. It was a temporarily place, eventually they would have to search for a good place somewhere on the continent for them to live.

The village couldn't be far and just as he was thinking this, he walked around a large tree and spotted the village in the distance. He estimated that the first houses were only half a mile away. As they closed in the outlines became clearer and small houses and other buildings became visible. Most of the houses were scarcely lit with flickering lights.

Once they entered the town, they walked through narrow streets towards the centre. A few people stopped and stared at them. Woman quickly entered their houses and closed the doors behind them. The sound of crackling wood got stronger as they approached the village square. In the middle was a rather large campfire. A group of men sat around it and indulged themselves with drinks, probably strong alcoholic ones.

When they came closer, a huge man rose and approached them. John swallowed. The man was really large. John was glad that he had asked Captain Còffie to join him.

"Visitors," the man announced, opening his arms to welcome them.

For a split second John was worried he had to hug the guy, but was relieved the man dropped his arms again and used them to pull his pants higher. "My name is Sebilsk, I am the town's Chief."

He swallowed before introducing himself. "Major John Sheppard. This is Captain Còffie and Sergeant Stackhouse. And Jinto."

"Jinto, son of Hallin of Athos?"

Jinto nodded. "Yes, these men came to trade with Teyla..."

Sebilsk interrupted him, "Teyla Emmagan," he said proudly. "Fine flesh that woman. How is she? I should one day propose her to become my wife."

Other men sitting around the campfire chuckled and John felt his hands itch. He hated when men talked about any woman is such a disrespectful way, but he controlled his surge of frustration. "She's been taken by the Wraith."

Sebilsk's eyes shot open and he increased his body size several inches in height and width. "The Wraith, when?"

"A few hours ago."

"You were on their world when the Wraith came?" Sebilsk asked, his voice darkening.

John sighed. "Yeah." This was not going as smooth as he had hoped.

"And how do I know for sure you did not bring the wraith to them?"

A group of men stood up and took their place behind Sebilsk. Most of them had the same posture as Sebilsk himself. John pressed his finger on the trigger of his gun. If the man took one-step closer or anyone else made a sudden move, he would shove the gun under their nose. "We didn't," he defended. "We've never met the Wraith before."

"I cannot allow you to stay here. You have to leave our town at once." Sebilsk voice was determined.

Although it made sense that these people didn't trusted them, he had hoped for a fair chance. "Please," he called for attention. "Teyla isn't the only one who's been taken. We've also lost a few good men."

Sebilsk calmed a bit down. "Jinto, is this true?"

Jinto nodded to the man, his eyes bright and open. The tension in the group eased. "We're planning to get them back." John explained.

Sebilsk shook his head in disbelief. "No one gets back alive when taken by the Wraith." He studied John. His eyes scanned not only him, but Captain Còffie and Sergeant Stackhouse too. "Show me your hands," he said and looked straight at John.

Before he could reach out one of his hands, Sebilsk grabbed it and turned the palm up. "No farmer," he stated.

John looked uncomfortably at the man. "Soldier," he said. Instantly some of the men standing behind Sebilsk started laughing.

Sebilsk rose one of his hands to silence them and each of the men obeyed without protest. "We have no need for fighters."

Realising that Sebilsk was right hit John hard. If they couldn't return to Earth, his skills were rather useless here. And with him there were others on the expedition team who wouldn't offer any value to others, unless they learned to farm crops. He sighed, wanting to offer these people some form of protection against the Wraith, but he knew that was impossible.

A wide grin suddenly emerged on Sebilsk's face. "We should drink to a newborn relation." He hit John hard on his shoulder. "We need miners."

John was pushed toward the campfire while the men sat down. "I could lend you Rodney and a few others," he said jokingly, keeping the mood light.

"Are they hard workers?"

"Sure," he smirked. He didn't know how he had done it, but apparently Sebilsk started to trust him. He planned to take his time with the rest of the conversation. If they wanted to earn a piece of land on this planet, he needed to keep Sebilsk as a friend.

Sebilsk waved his arm to the men, indicating for them to make room on the bench around the campfire. "Give him a drink," he said and nodded to one of the men holding a mug. The man grabbed a large jug from the ground and poured the drink.

John leaned backward to Captain Còffie. "Scout around a bit, be back in thirty minutes."

Captain Còffie nodded. "Yes, sir," he said and took Sergeant Stackhouse with him.

~~**~~

Besides farming, these people knew how to make some pretty strong booze. John had been offered three mugs and he carefully drank them, making sure he'd spill enough to keep his head clear. Sebilsk had patiently listened to his story and considered for a short time before he decided that they could stay for a while, if they would participate in harvesting and mining.

John made a mental note to ask Rodney about effective mining techniques. Maybe he could build a machine for these people. He stood up. "I have to get back to the camp."

"Sure, sure, sure," Sebilsk said. He rose from the bench and without warning he slammed John roughly on his shoulder.

John grunted and swallowed against the pain. He waved his goodbyes and walked to Sergeant Stackhouse, who was standing near a sleeping Jinto.

"Where's Coffee cup? We need to get back."

Sergeant Stackhouse couldn't keep the grin off his face and laughed a bit. "It's 'Koò-vee', sir."

John narrowed his eyes a little at the Sergeant, who tried his best to put on a straight face.

Meanwhile Captain Còffie came around a corner. "Just an ordinary town, nothing special to report, sir."

"Can you carry Jinto?" John asked and looked at the boy who was fast asleep.

"I'll try not to wake him," Captain Còffie said and unclipped his gun.

John accepted the gun and watched Captain Còffie carefully lift the boy from the bench he lay on. They moved out of town and once they were on the path, they could see the camp in the valley below. There were a couple small fires and some tents were lit. It would take them at least an hour before they would reach the camp, but it felt good to be able to see it.

Everything that had happened started to sink in and John knew they were in bad shape. Tomorrow he would take one of the doctors to see a few sick people in town, Rodney had to think of a way to mine and he needed volunteers for the upcoming harvest. The situation was far from ideal. They weren't supposed to be depended on anybody, but they had no choice. They knew nothing about this galaxy, except for the close encounter with the bad guys. And worst of all, they had no way of returning to Earth.

They entered the camp and John pointed over to one of the tents where the Athosians stayed. Captain Còffie nodded and headed off to hand Jinto over to the woman who was watching out for him. As he walked away, John scanned the campfires, trying to locate Doctor Weir. However, he didn't see her and decided to check the medical tent. "Try and get some sleep Sergeant," he said.

"Yes, sir." Was the response he got before Sergeant Stackhouse turned the other way.

John walked through the camp until he reached the tent they had setup for medical care. He pushed the flap aside and stepped inside. Beside a nurse, Doctor Beckett was also still at work. "Doc, Where's Doctor Weir."

"I ordered her to get some sleep. She's in the tent next-door."

For some strange reason he felt relieved. He knew for sure that Doctor Beckett had to use very good arguments to persuade her to go to sleep, but he had been successful. He should probably get some sleep too. "How is she?" he asked, referring to Doctor Weir's health.

"Exhausted, but as far as I can tell at this point she's in perfect health."

"Did you do a blood test?"

Doctor Beckett shook his head, briefly glancing at a pile of still packed boxes. "If she'd let me check her over, I'd get some answers, but she's avoiding me. And we're still not fully operational."

John shifted uncomfortably. He had indicated how important it was to check her out. He couldn't order him, but he had hoped to get a better answer then this.

"Major," Doctor Beckett said in a calm voice. "Her vital signs are fine. I checked them before she went to bed. She has no fever, no pain. She just had a lot to deal with today, just as each and everyone else here. I told her to come in tomorrow morning for a check-up."

"I know," he sighed. "But I want that blood test done as soon as you've unloaded the right box."

"I promise," Doctor Beckett said, giving him a look of understanding and compassion.

"Thanks. I'll be getting some sleep too." John said and waved his arm to indicate he was about to leave. "Call me if there's anything."

"Sleep well, Major."

John left the tent and actually wanted to see with his own eyes that Elizabeth was asleep, but since she was sleeping with other female personnel, he decided this was not a good idea. At least he felt good knowing that she wasn't alone on a strange planet.

He strode along past two small campfires before catching up with Captain Siurulainen. "Anything to report?"

She saluted him. "No, sir. Everything is under control. Our lookouts have a clear view over the entire valley. The Stargate is well secured with a team and the camp borders are also under guard."

After observing her again, he nodded. "I'll take the second watch, wake me in four hours."

"Yes, sir." She added a salute again and surprisingly a smile too. "Sleep well, sir."

He nodded and headed for the tent were the male expedition members were already sleeping. The tents with female and children were strategically placed in the middle with the other tents surrounding them. As old fashion as it may sound, he had decided this would be safer. Woman weren't as strong as men. Most of them at least.

Before opening the flap, he scanned around the camp one last time. Everything looked peaceful.

~~**~~

John watched the camp came alive. The campfires were re-lit and people started to move around. Many of them still seemed timid. Most of them would start to realize that this possible one-way mission was now truly a one-way mission. This was at least the subject on his mind for the past four hours, along with making a plan to rescue the people that were taken by the Wraith.

From the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of Doctor Weir leaving the tent. It could be the haze messing with his eyes, but she looked quite pale. He checked his watch and saw Lieutenant Ford coming to take his place.

"Morning, sir."

"Lieutenant," he formally responded and they switched places. He looked around, but didn't see Doctor Weir anymore. "I'll be checking in with the doctors," he pointed at the science tent, hoping this was where Doctor Weir had gone to.

While passing tents people greeted him and to his surprise he found Doctor Weir standing at the edge of the camp, talking with the only surviving constructor. Another wave of realization passed over him, reminding him that they had lost good people during the flood on Atlantis. He was determined to get his people back from the Wraith.

"Doctor," he greeted. "Did you sleep well?"

She glared at him and returned to the laptop and the constructor, who got the hint and left. "I expected your report as soon as you got back, Major," she spat.

Whatever had been wrong with her yesterday it wasn't related to her temper. He swallowed. "You were asleep and it could wait until now."

"You should have woke me."

She gave a sadistic laugh that made him think she hadn't slept at all. "Sorry, but it was not important enough to wake you."

She took a deep breath and reinitiated her calmness. "How did it go, Major?"

"I've spoken to the town's Chief, Sebilsk. A nice guy once you get to know him and pour a touch of liquor in." Her eyes told him to get to the point. "He agreed that we could stay. He just requested that we help with the harvest, our doc checking out some sick people in the village and I kind of told them we might be able to help them improve their mining activities."

"I'm sure Doctors McKay and Zelenka can come up with something appropriate."

"And I can go get our people back." There was an awkward moment of silence. Doctor Weir watched him and if he was honest, she still didn't look too well. The beautiful spark in her eyes was missing, making him think briefly back to the moment where he signed the form that granted him a place on the mission. If he had know the mission would indeed be a one-way trip and they would encounter these vicious aliens he might have reconsidered.

Sebilsk may have said that there was no need for soldiers or fighters, but someone had to protect their people from the Wraith. First thing, he would need to do, was convince Doctor Weir that a rescue would be possible, get his people back and start working on a defensive strategy with Colonel Sumner. Chances of him winning a discussion with Doctor Weir were slim, but he had to try. His frustration levels were rapidly rising. He couldn't cope with the idea of just sitting around and doing nothing.


	4. Four

"Let me guess. You aren't gonna to let me rescue our people," John spat at Elizabeth. She could hear the disdain in his voice and it made her wonder for a moment if he was angry with her choice or just at her.

"Major," she said, giving him a look to silence him and walking away from the camp. She stopped near the parked ships and turned back to face him. "You don't even know if they're alive."

"You don't leave people in the hands of the enemy, and the fact we are having this conversation in private lets me know that you know damn well that it's wrong. And it will totally undermine your leadership. So as ranking military officer, I--"

Elizabeth held up her hand to stop him before he could tell her something stupid like he was taking over command and going anyway. She didn't need him going against her orders because he was annoyed at her for something else. He was right, though, they shouldn't leave their people in the hands of the enemy, but there were other things to consider here.

"All right, just shut up and listen to me for a moment, all right?" she said and paused to swallow. "Come on, what do we know about the Wraith? One of the few things we do know is that they are the enemy that defeated the Ancients. When we first began to use the Stargate we found on Earth, we got ourselves into serious trouble. Why?"

"I don't need a history lesson," he spat walking close to one of the jumpers.

"Because the people in charge didn't consider the ramifications before they reacted," she continued, following him and lowering her voice as someone walked nearby.

"They took our people! How am I supposed to react?"

"And we are defenceless! You said so yourself," she almost shouted at him. He was wearing on her already thin nerves. "How do you know going off on some half-assed rescue mission isn't going to bring them all right back here to our doorstep?"

"Maybe it will. But it's the right thing to do. Why? Because it is!" She had to stare at him for that, that wasn't much of an argument. She knew he could do better than that.

"John..."

"If you're not going to do this, I mean right now, then we should just pack up and find somewhere to hide, because they're coming."

"You don't know that," she said a little too calmly.

"Our people are in the hands of the enemy, Doctor," he said and she quirked a brow at his use of her title in such a secluded location. "Do you know what that means? It's just a matter of time before the Wraith figure out where we came from."

"I just need more information. I mean, who knows, maybe we can negotiate a peaceful--"

"Peaceful? Are you kidding?" he spat and she took a step back at the venom in his voice. "We weren't on Athos for more than a few hours before they showed up."

"Is it possible that they came because of you? And one of these people you brought here with us tipped them off?"

"It's possible."

"See," she shouted, a little frustrated with his reckless thinking. "That is exactly the snap decision I'm referring too!"

"They are not all bad people," he offered. "And you know if we're going to stick around here, we need friends."

"Okay, I see your point," she said shifting her stance. "Now you see mine. I will not authorize a rescue mission. Unless I'm sure there is at least a remote chance of success. We can't risk losing more good people, including you, to the Wraith."

"Okay," John said leaning against the ship. "We have these," he pointed out and moved around to the back hatch. "If we can use one of these, we'll have a better chance of escaping."

"You said the Wraith had ships as well, they'll just follow you back."

John opened the hatch and stepped in. Elizabeth watched from the back of the ship with a quirked brow as he sat down in the pilot's seat. He muttered something as he tested the control and looked around. She crossed her arms and turned back to look at the camp they had set up; from a distance it didn't look quite as messy as it did from the inside. She heard the hum of the ship and turned back only to take a step back in shock.

"John," she said examining the space where the ship had been. She could still hear it; it had to be there, somewhere. "John?"

"You said you wanted tactical advantage?" he called out to her before the ship appeared again hovering a few inches from the ground.

"All right, so you can control that thing. It doesn't mean you can pull off a rescue."

"Elizabeth, this is why you brought me with you."

~~**~~

In the morning, most of the supplies were setup and John had even made a reconnaissance flight around the planet. Beside this continent with the Stargate on it, there were two other, smaller islands. Although this did seem valuable information, he knew very well that they wouldn't move the camp too far from the Stargate. The rest of the time inside the ship, he had used to familiarize himself with the controls. All he had to do was hope Elizabeth wouldn't retract her agreement on the rescue plan.

When he got back, Rodney was working on prepping the MALP. This instantly made him smile. However, Elizabeth wasn't around to see it. She showed up over an hour later and requested a status update. After Rodney had confirmed the MALP was ready, she asked John if he and his team were set. He confirmed that they were ready and waiting near the Stargate while Rodney sent the MALP through. They had only been able to get a lock on one address out of the possibilities available with the symbols Lieutenant Ford had remembered.

"We're receiving visual telemetry." Peter Grodin announced.

Curious and eager to know what they would find on the planet Elizabeth, Rodney and John watched the laptop receiving an image stream from the MALP.

"I can't see anything," Elizabeth said, her eyes fixed on the screen.

Rodney checked the readings on the laptop. "No atmospheric readings at all," he said a little surprised.

John saw something flashing on the screen. "Wait, what was that?" he asked, hoping to get an answer he could use in his favour.

Rodney was on the issue and checked the telemetry the MALP sent back. "Rotate the camera," he suggested.

Peter Grodin complied and the camera slowly panned around. John saw a bright light, but it disappeared just as fast as it came into focus. His eyes widened the moment he saw what looked like planetary rings. Before he could piece it together, the Stargate entered the camera view, floating in space.

"Well, there goes that MALP!" Rodney exclaimed.

"It's in space!" John said. He was still somewhat confused by the idea, but the images clearly showed the Stargate was not on a planet. He even understood why Rodney wasn't happy about losing the MALP. Losing a vital piece of technology with the limited recourses they had could get them in trouble. Especially now the Stargates could be in space.

"It's in high orbit around a planet on the far side of the galaxy," Rodney explained further, clearly specifying the fact that he hadn't expected that was even possible.

Elizabeth looked at Rodney. "You're sure this is the right address?" she asked, trying to search for a confirmation.

"It's the only one we could get a lock on," Rodney answered.

John sighed and looked thoughtful. This seemed to be a set back and it would surely make a rescue more challenging. However, if he was correct, not impossible. "The ships we have are space ship right?"

Rodney's mouth spoke before he could have processed the words. "Well if it's not you're about to die a very painful death, so I'd be thankful if you're sure about that fact first." His pitch rose during the speech, making John aware of how stupid the question was in the first place.

John looked somewhat confused. "We already planned to use the ship, so it should be possible, right?" He looked at Doctor Weir and saw her nod. He smirked. "I'll go and prep the ship."

"Try to salvage the MALP," Rodney called after John as he walked away.

~~**~~

John stepped inside the ship, closely followed by his team. He took a seat behind the flight console and prepared the ship while Ford closed the hatch.

"Alright, boys, get ready to go," Ford said walking passed the other four men on the team. He took a seat next to John, who gave him a look. "Gateship One ready to go."

John's expression turned contemptuous. "Gateship One?! A little Puddle Jumper like this?!" He stared at Ford in surprise and wondered where he got the idea to name the ship.

Ford simply smile and explained. "It's a ship; it goes through the Gate: Gateship One."

"Oh no, no, no, that's all wrong," John murmured and shook his head in disbelief.

"Doctor McKay thought it was cool," Ford announced.

John felt an itch crawl up his spine. "Oh, Okay. Well, its official," he declared. "You don't get to name anything. Ever." He made sure to emphasise the last word to make it clear that he didn't want to argue about naming issues without even being consulted in the first place. It was nice to know that his people were relaxed enough to joke around a bit, but they needed to stay focused.

"Flight, this is..." he started informing Rodney over the radio and added a wicked grin to Ford. "Puddle Jumper One. We're go for launch."

"Err, this is Flight," Rodney returned and stammered, a little confused. "I thought we were going with Gateship?"

John felt the smirk pulling his lips into a satisfied grin. "Negative, Flight," he said into the radio.

He heard Rodney sigh. "Stand by." For seconds there is only silence and he knew Rodney was trying to argue with Elizabeth in the command tent.

"Fine. Puddle Jumper, you are clear for launch," Rodney declared over the radio with an almost desperate sigh.

John nodded to Ford. "Dial it up, Lieutenant."

Ford started to push the buttons on the console between him and John. He entered the Stargate address and in front of them the gate engaged. The water puddle quickly stabilized. John took the steering controls firmly in his hands and lifted the ship off the ground. It hovered for about a minute before easing forwards until John had it placed directly in front of the gate.

John could see Doctor Weir and Rodney watching the Puddle Jumper. He nodded briefly towards them before taking the Jumper through the Stargate. Upon exiting the wormhole he cloaked the ship and took in the surroundings. They were in orbit around a large planet, with no nearby bogeys in sight. He flew the ship a little closer to the planet and established a steady flight pattern. "Wow, this is cool."

"Looks like you got the hang of it," Ford said.

"Tell you what, Lieutenant, a lot of fighter pilots would kill to fly this thing. It's like it reads your mind." He concentrated on flying the Puddle Jumper and almost immediately, readouts appeared superimposed over the front windshield.

"Did you do that?" Ford's voice sounded surprised and uncertain at the same time.

John was equally surprised. "I... I was just wondering where we go from here." The moment he had thought about it, the screen appeared. He quickly tried to read the displayed data and figure out how this could be of use to him.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ford concluded. "So how do we find them once we land?"

"Well I've been thinking about that too..." John said and a mere second later, a compartment in the wall next to him opened. The compartment held a small hand-sized device. He was rather startled by the ship responding to his thoughts, but took the device from the compartment. He checked the device and the screen, but couldn't find the purpose for it yet. He decided to look at it after landing and placed it in his vest pocket to make sure he wouldn't forget to bring it along when encountering the Wraith.

"Now I'm thinking about a nice turkey sandwich," he joked.

He and Ford looked around for a compartment, but nothing happened. "Worth a try." Ford said with a shrug.

A Wraith structure appeared as a dot on the screen in front of John. When they descended, the dot turned into an immense structure looming in front of his eyes. The overlay disappeared and more details from the Wraith building became visible. Whatever it was, it was partly underground. A whole forest had grown on top of it.

John had expected that the rescue mission was going to be difficult, but it seemed an even greater challenge then he had expected. While he landed the Jumper, he looked at Lieutenant Ford, who seemed to share his concern. Ford got up from his chair and walked to the rear compartment of the jumper. "Lock and load," he said to the men in the back.

John could hear a touch of anxiety in the Lieutenant's voice. He took a breath after the jumper had touched down and got up from his seat. No matter how difficult this rescue might seem, he shouldn't show this to the others. Lieutenant Ford opened the back door and the men headed out and checked the immediate vicinity.

John followed them out of the jumper. "Alright, teams of two," he addressed the men. "Learn what you can, lay down the defences as you see fit. I want to be able to light this place up if we have to." He turned to Sergeant Stackhouse. "Two clicks, you're clear to talk."

"Yes, sir," Sergeant Stackhouse responded.

"Do not engage the enemy." John ordered. He actually hoped they would not encounter the enemy, but he knew chances of that were slim. The size of the Wraith structure could easily be occupied with hundreds of thousands of Wraith.

With a slight tap on his shoulder, John got Ford's attention. "You're with me," he said before heading towards the Wraith building.


	5. Five

A set of heavy footsteps in the distance alerted John. He and Ford entered a small alcove in the corridor and waited. The footsteps stomped closer until a single Wraith guard passed by. Once it was at a relatively safe distance from them, they stepped out of their hiding place.

"Thought getting in was going to be the hard part," John whispered, still trying to minimize chances of alerting the enemy.

"That's the first one we've seen," Ford whispered back while placing a C4 pack on the wall.

John remembered he had taken the Ancient device from the Puddle Jumper and took it from his pocket to check if it would be of any use. On the screen there were several dots blinking. The red dot was moving away from them and he concluded that it had to be the guard. "Little dot should be him." To confirm his interpretation he needed to be sure which dots represented them. "Go over there." As quietly as possible Ford walked in the direction he had indicated. One of the blue dots moved in the same direction, confirming his belief that the other moving dot was the Wraith guard. "Yeah, that's you," he whispered when Ford came back to him.

"So we got ourselves a life signs detector." Ford grinned.

John gave Ford a look of annoyance. "We can name it later." He led the way down the corridor in search for their missing people, holding the device in his hand.

While moving through the maze of corridors John kept a close eye on the device. When he spotted a group of blue dots on the scanner he started to move cautiously in their direction. If his assumptions were correct, the blue dots showed the location of humans. He turned another and moved towards a prison cell on one side, he could see their people trapped inside. Carefully he and Ford approach the cell.

"Major?" Teyla whispered.

"Shh," John hushed her, still trying to avoid alerting the Wraith to their presence. "Are you alright?"

"How did you find us?" Teyla asked.

"Is my son alive?" Hallin question before John could answer.

"He's well and waiting for you," John said and checked the people in the cell. He saw Sergeant Bates and Stevens. "Where's Colonel Sumner?"

"He was taken by the Wraith," Bates answered.

Teyla looked at John. "We don't know where."

"Well, how about when?" John asked and quickly scanned around to see if they were still safe.

"Not long," Teyla said.

John's face turned sour. This was exactly the situation he'd hoped to avoid. "I knew something had to go wrong." He clicked the button on his radio a couple of times to alert the men near the Jumper.

"This is Stackhouse, go ahead, sir."

"How about a diversion in a little bit? You really need to make some noise out there."

"Yes, sir," Stackhouse replied immediately.

John walked over to Ford. "Ready the C4. Blow a hole and get these people out of here on my signal, alright? I can find the colonel with this." He grabbed the device from his pocket and checked the readings. "There aren't that many Wraith around. I should be able to do this. If I'm not back in twenty minutes," he emphasised, "blow the cells and get out."

"You're the only one who can fly these people out of here."

Ford had a point, but he didn't want to hear it. "Yeah, I'm going to fly us all out of here, including the Colonel." He would do all he could to get Colonel Sumner back alive.

"Just saying I should be the one to go, sir," Ford said.

Again, Ford stated the obvious fact that he wasn't following the most logical path. He sighed, a little frustrated. "Twenty minutes. I'll find him." Each word was spoken clearly, making it an order. He checked the reading on the device and moved off through the corridor.

~~**~~

John had been walking through the maze of corridors, alcoves and room without finding Colonel Sumner for several minutes. However, he hadn't seen any Wraith either and had declared this a good thing. At each crossing, he cautiously checked all intercepting corridors. He found each one empty, just as the device showed him. However, he was not about to trust an Ancient device that hadn't been used for over ten thousand years. Something in his mind kept telling him to stay alert.

A sudden scream alerted him and he turned towards the sound. His heart rate increased, hearing the painful cries from Colonel Sumner. He started to walk quickly towards the sound, keeping one eye constantly aimed at the device. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of a dead-end. The screams were not far from him, but he couldn't go any further. Searching for a way up or down he moved into a small passageway when the cries became stronger. Not far from him there was another dead-end. However, the openings in the wall were large enough for him to look through. Instinctively he lowered himself to the ground and started to crawl towards the end. His heart was pounding in his throat and he feared what he would see. More importantly was wondering what he could do. There was no time to find a way around to the room where the Wraith were torturing Colonel Sumner, he just hoped he could get a clear view to shoot them.

As fast as possible and without making any sound, he crawled towards the opening and looked down into the room. At first, he didn't see anything, until he turned his head. The scene in front of him seemed to be even worse than torture. He quickly imprinted the situation in his head. Colonel Sumner had sunken to his knees and seemed to have aged rapidly. He groaned from extreme pain, caused by a Wraith female with bright red hair, wearing a long white dress. She had her hand on the Colonel's chest. On both sides of the room, there were Wraith guards with weapons. This was all he could see and all he could work with at the moment. There was no time to guess or reposition, he had to act now to try and save the Colonel.

He aimed his gun at the Wraith female and pulled the trigger. A spray of bullets left his gun and pierced her chest. To his shock, she merely turned around in fury, before turning her attention back to Sumner. He moved his gun and fired a few shots at one of the guards, who fell to the ground. Instantly the other guard fired at him and an energy blast hit the wall in front of him. He ducked down and heard sparks moving through the openings to the wall next to him. A short moment later, he lifted his head and aimed his gun again. After firing a couple of bullets at the other guard, the Wraith fell.

John's eyes shot open and the image he saw burned in his eyes. The Wraith female still had her hand on the Colonel's chest. She was doing something to him to make him suffer this much. John swallowed. He had heard of many ways to torture people, but this was far beyond anything that he could imagine.

The man he knew as Colonel Sumner no longer existed. Sumner had aged and was now nothing more than a weak old man, who was barely alive. His eyes were hollow and he stared blankly into nothingness, until they locked on him. There was a slight nod, meant to be interpreted as an end to the suffering. The difficult and painful decision was his to make. Reluctantly, John shifted his aim from the female's head to her hand and he fired a single shot. The bullet travelled through the Wraith's hand and pierced Colonel Sumner's body. It went straight through his heart, killing him instantly. The Colonel's body collapsed lifeless to the ground and the Wraith female turned around. She hissed ferociously towards him. Before he could aim his gun again, he felt an energy blast hit him and everything turned black.

~~**~~

One of the Wraith guards dragged John, lifting him by the scruff of his neck, carried him into the room where Sumner was. He was lifted roughly and his head and back slammed down onto a table while the Wraith female approached him. He had not seen a Wraith from this close and a part of him felt very uncomfortable, knowing what they could do to him. His body was still weak from whatever they had used to shoot him and the guard's hands held tightly, pressed around his throat. He realized this wasn't the best position to be in, during a rescue mission. A failed one at that. The image of Colonel Sumner was still fresh in his mind, painfully telling him how brutal his enemy could be and that he feared he might suffer the same fate.

"How's the hand feeling?" He asked, trying to buy some time to figure out a way out of the mess.

She gave a wicked grin of delight that sickened him. Her eyes changed focus from him to her own hand and slowly she turned it. He was disturbed to see the shot wound healing fast. Within just a few seconds, her hand looked undamaged.

"Much better," she said slowly and looked patronizingly at him.

John tried to swallow, but this was difficult with the Wraith hand controlling his movements and even his intake of oxygen. In a moment of released pressure, he lifted his head a bit and looked at the Wraith female. "I'm sorry to hear that." The Wraith guard pushed his head back down and he saw her observe him.

A flicker of surprise shot to her eyes and she reached for his pocket. She pulled out the scanning device he had used to track the Wraith and humans. She turned it around and back again to study it. Her eyes betrayed that she not only seemed to recognize the device, but also disliked the fact that he had it in his possession.

"How did this come to you?" She asked, demanding an answer.

"I don't remember," John answered and tried to read the expression on her face.

The Wraith female snarled agitatedly. She raised her hand and started to close in on John when he heard shots being fired. A hole in the head of the Wraith guard followed by blood pouring down from it was John's cue to grab his radio. More shots were fired and the Wraith guard dropped to the ground.

John activated the radio. "Light it up," he said before rolling off the table and spotting Lieutenant Ford holding his machine gun, ready to fire. He could hear numerous explosions go off outside the Wraith structure and saw the Wraith female turn to him in anger. A screaming alarm was set off, which penetrated his ears and echoed as a high pitching sound through his skull. Moments later another Wraith guard entered the room and Ford started firing until the guard crumpled down.

John searched for a weapon he could use to kill the Wraith. It had to be something stronger then bullets, because he definitely had hit her with a full spray and she was still standing on her feet without a single bullet hole in her torso. He rolled a bit more on his side and grabbed the spear-like Wraith weapon. He took it firmly in his hands and got on his feet. He charged towards the Wraith female, holding the weapon in front of him.

She turned around and the point of the weapon entered her body just blow her ribs. He added more thrust until it exited through her back. She gasped painfully, trying to breathe. He lifted the weapon up, trying to do as much internal damage as possible.

"That has to kill you," John breathed, more to himself then to her. It would be impossible for her to survive this kind of injury. He pulled the weapon from her body, and watched her sink to the ground.

He held the weapon in his hand, keeping an eye on the Wraith female, as he turned to Lieutenant Ford. "How'd you find me?"

"Tread marks," Ford explained. "Standard issue. sir, let's go."

John was about to step backwards when the Wraith female used all the strength left in her to speak. "You don't know what you have done. We are merely the caretakers for those that sleep. When I die, the others will awake." Her voice was weak and he could hear the pain she was in, but her message was clear. She gasped for more air and her voiced darkened for her final dramatic announcement. "All of them."

She closed her eyes and her head fell to the side. John knew she was dead and instantly he heard the Atlantis device beeping. He turned to the table, put the Wraith weapon down and picked up the device.

"What's she talking about? How many are left?" Ford asked.

John knew Ford was just as crept out as he was. He looked at the device and the number of dots increased rapidly. According to the display, they were completely surrounded by Wraith, but the room was still empty. A gooey sound made him look up to the ceiling. In the separate honeycomb shapes, lights turned on and dark figures started to stir. The number of cells was enormous and more dots became visible on the device. He swallowed and started upwards shocked at what was happening.

Ford handed John a handgun. "Sir, we need to leave."

He was not supposed to be afraid, but these Wraith sure were scary guys. Keeping the ceiling in sight, he moved backwards and activated his radio. "Stackhouse, we're on the go."

Stackhouse responded immediately. "So are we. Colonel Sumner?"

"Negative," he said while he started running after Ford.


	6. Six

After meeting up with the people he did save, John guided them as fast as possible out of the Wraith facility. As he ran towards the Puddle Jumper, he could still feel a burning ache in his chest. The pain had started after he had shot Colonel Sumner and he'd realized the Wraith were indeed a formidable enemy. It hurt him that he wasn't capable of saving everyone. However, he was glad that he'd save most of the captured people, including Teyla and Hallin. The stabbing pain in his chest would ease when they were all in the safety of their current home and he could reunite Jinto with his father.

"Major, the Jumper is secure for the moment," Stackhouse said over the radio.

John activated his radio as the sound of enemy ships launching reached his ears. "We have a big problem." It was almost an understatement. Stackhouse was wise enough to know that they had to be in some kind of trouble, but he actually meant 'huge'. He leaned his head towards Ford. "Lieutenant, take our six. I'm going to take them back to the Jumper."

"Be right behind you," Ford called out, moving aside, so the others could follow John.

More enemy ships filled the sky and John felt adrenaline rush through his veins. They were close to the Puddle Jumper and only a few moments later he could actually see the ship. He aimed his handgun in the air and started running across the field towards it. One of the marines approached them to give them extra protection.

"Get in!" John called and fell back while the others ran to the Jumper. The marine covered them and moved back with the group. John watched the group until they were inside the jumper and noticed Teyla wasn't amongst them. He hoped she had just stayed behind with Lieutenant Ford. He would go back to them, but he needed a better weapon to fight any approaching Wraith. As he reached the Jumper, he quickly put his gun away and grabbed a machine gun from the man standing closest to him.

Two enemy ships flew overhead and John saw Ford and Teyla crossing each other in an area not far from him. He ran towards them and saw one of the Wraith ships shooting at the ground. Ford and Teyla dived away from the explosive ammunition. Immediately John aimed his gun in the air and pulled the trigger, bullet after bullet left the gun, each one impacting the ship. He tracked the ship, his finger tight on the trigger, as it flew over him. He saw the right wing starting to burn, a trail of smoke followed the ship as it disappeared out of sight.

"Thank you, sir," Ford said, looking up at him.

"Let's try not to make a habit of this." He reached out his hand and helped Lieutenant Ford back on his feet, while Teyla crawled up by herself. More Wraith ships appeared overhead. As quickly as they could they ran to the Puddle Jumper and straight inside.

"We got incoming!" Stackhouse called out, falling back into the jumper.

John didn't have time to fight off anymore Wraith, and instead, threw himself into the pilot's seat. He activated the ship's systems and the console in front of him lit up. "Okay, now what am I thinking?" In response the Puddle Jumper started to take off and cloaked before it was above the tree line. John plotted a course to leave orbit, evading the swarm of Wraith ships that now occupied the majority of the airspace. He looked back to the rear compartment of the Jumper. "Everybody okay back there?"

"We are well enough," Teyla responded, tending to the other Athosians.

"Hope that was the hard part," Ford said taking a seat in the co-pilot's chair.

John saw numerous Wraith ships circling the Stargate in orbit and clenched his jaws. "Crap. I don't think we've gotten to the hard part yet." His brief hope of quickly returning to the camp shattered into tiny splinters.

Teyla saw the ships too and asked. "What can we do?"

"We're safe as long as they can't see us," Ford said trying to reassure Teyla.

Worry covered John's face and he attempted to count all the possibilities he would have to get safely to the Stargate. He stayed with the number zero, as he saw no way through the formation of Wraith ships without starting a fight. "They don't have to. There's only one way for us to go. The minute we activate the Stargate they can start shooting blind and blow us away on our approach."

"Then how can we get through?" Ford asked him.

"We should draw them away from the Gate, double back." John said increasing the Jumper's speed as he flew in the direction of the Stargate. He took a deep breath and concentrated. The next few minutes would be intense and would mean the life or death of everyone in the Puddle Jumper. After exhaling, he decloaked the Jumper. The moment he saw the first Wraith ship heading his way, he broke off and set in an evasive course. His heart rate was increasing again, blood pumping enough oxygen to his brain to help him stay quick and alert. On the screen, he saw a large group of enemy ships come towards him, just as he had hoped.

"Be prepared to dial Athos on my mark," he commanded Ford, luring more Wraith away from the Stargate.

"Why?"

"Because we can't take the risk of bringing them back to the camp. We need to make sure they won't be able to follow us."

"Yes, sir," Ford confirmed, still sounding a little confused.

From the corner of his eyes John could see Ford's hands hovering above the dialling pad. His eyes stayed fixed on the screens in front of him, the ships were trying to create a net around him and started to approach from different sides. A few started to shoot at the Jumper and while most missed they could feel a few impacts on the ship's hull. So far there was no damage, but he didn't know how much shooting the ship could take.

"See anything like a weapons console over there?" John asked and immediately a weapons overlay appeared on the screen in front of him. Without even being surprised, he picked a target and thought about firing at it. Not even a second later, he saw a drone fly by, away from the ship going straight for the target. The drone surged unerringly towards the Wraith ship and it exploded on impact.

He glanced at Lieutenant Ford, satisfied with the action. However, his euphoria was short lived when more shots headed their way. He was able to manoeuvre quickly and avoid most of the blasts, but still a few grazed the jumper.

"Try and go invisible again," Ford suggested after taking another hit.

"I tried," John said. "It must be damaged. Dial the Gate."

As Ford started to punch in the correct symbols for dialling Athos on the console, John continued to increase his flying skill. The turns became steeper and followed more rapidly onto each other. He succeeded in making a 180 degree turn to fly straight for the Stargate. The wormhole was open, but there were still two Wraith vessels guarded it. Both ships started continuously shooting, making it difficult to avoid being struck. John selected one of the ships as a target and concentrated on firing at it. Again, without any difficulty a couple of drones flew to the Wraith ship, blasting it into pieces.

He turned away taking quite a few hits as he manoeuvred, he needed to make a round passed them to get into position to go through the gate. The next pass would be their last chance to eliminate as many enemy crafts as he could. He pre-selected the second ship near the gate and the moment he was within firing range the drones left the Jumper and set course to destroy another Wraith ship. He turned the Jumper back to the gate and found the path clear, not a single Wraith ship in their way. "Hang on!" He announced and urged the Jumper towards the gate.

"We're going too fast," Ford said, slightly worried about the consequences.

"I know," John said. "Brace for a hard stop and about turn. Teyla I need another address fast."

"Another address?" She asked and before John could explain, she seemed to think of the reason herself. "I know of one we could use." She stepped closer to the dialling pad and grabbed both seats to make sure she would remain in position as John plunged into the Stargate.

"Dial as soon as the wormhole disengages."

"Yes, I am ready."

The engine pods of the ship retracted as the Puddle Jumper prepared for gate travel. They were still receiving hits from the enemy, but still nothing seriously damaging. As soon as they exited on Athos John swung the Jumper upwards into a steep climb spun and stopped sharply, facing the gate almost completely horizontal and a few feet above it. To everyone's surprise, the emergency stop did not cause any problem. John levelled the Jumper as two Wraith ships emerged from the Wormhole. The gate shut down and immediately Teyla started dialling the new address and John lowered the ship into position. On his screen he saw one of the Wraith ships crash in a nearby tree, while the other barely avoided a collision. There was quite some distance between him and the enemy, but he didn't know if it would be enough.

"Same action if the last Wraith ship comes through," John announced, hoping Teyla would know another address.

The new wormhole activated and John flew in. On the other side, he steered upwards again and stopped level, slightly smoother than the previous attempt.

"The gate is disconnected," Teyla said.

"Good," John said. "Ford, dial the coordinates, let's go back to the camp."

Without a word, Ford started punching the pads on the console.

To John's relief the wormhole opened with no further problems. He carefully lowered the Puddle Jumper into position and flew through the gate. "That was close," he said, more to himself then to the others. He exhaled deeply and tried to calm his racing heart as he gently flew the ship over the camp to the landing site. He turned around with a satisfied smirk on his face. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to camp Atlantis. Please remain seated 'til the Puddle Jumper has come to a full and complete stop."

~~**~~

The debriefing with Doctor Weir was long and she made him tell her things he'd rather not have shared. In the army, there was a code about not leaving any men behind. Not in the hands of the enemy, dead or alive. However, he had left Colonel Sumner behind and it was not as easy as he thought it would be. In Afghanistan he deliberately disobeyed orders to go and save people, but failed. Today however, he had permission to go, but still wasn't able to save the Colonel. The feeling of loss and unfairness had crossed his mind, stabbing him deep in his heart.

"You did good, John," she said after the others had left.

"I don't know about that." His feelings were still mixed. The image of the Wraith female taking away the Colonel's life in such a painful way still turned his stomach. For the moment, he could believe that Doctor Weir felt that way too, for different reasons.

"Hey," she called for attention. "There was no way you could have saved Colonel Sumner."

"I have to live with it."

He saw Doctor Weir nod understandingly, but it didn't ease the discomfort he felt. "I'm beginning to think you were right. I have made things much worse. I haven't made us many more friends out there."

"No?" she said and looked over the campsite up the hill. "Look around you."

John took a deep breath and found the little truth in her words. Not only the Athosians, but also the people from the village had welcomed them. Maybe they were not truly friends yet, but at least they were starting to build on a relation with these people.

In the distance, he saw Hallin embrace his son, Jinto. He had reunited them. A small moment that made him smile and forget about the misery he felt. He looked back at Doctor Weir and smiled. "Maybe you should try and get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Shouldn't that be my line?" she asked and narrowed her eyes.

"Sleep well," he said and walked away.

"You too," she shouted after him.

He smiled broader. He would get some rest too, but first he wanted to check on his teams and see how the camp defences were doing.


	7. Seven

John woke up when he heard a high shrieking sound over the camp and not a moment later his radio activated.

"Three bogies," Lieutenant Cadman reported.

John activated his radio while jumping to his feet and searched for his gun. "Understood. Initiate the emergency protocol." He was glad he hadn't taken the time to undress and was still wearing his BDU. All he had to do was put on his vest and he would be ready for combat. He quickly checked his watch and noticed he had slept less than two hours, making him curse the Wraith.

Outside people were starting to wake and alert each other. Soon this would become chaos and not long after people would start to panic. He scanned to see if he could locate Doctor Weir, but didn't see her yet. Meanwhile he scanned the sky and followed the trail of the ships heading for the village.

Cadman ran towards him. "Sir, we're waking everyone, but they seem to have no interest in us."

"Yet," John corrected. It was strange for the Wraith to fly over the camp and go to the village, but this also meant there was extra time for them to get to safety. "Keep people calm and prepare for evacuation. Have you seen Weir?"

"No, sir."

John nodded and Cadman took off again. He crossed the camp, still keeping his eyes on the Wraith ships flying over the village. He saw the beams sweeping the area and he had to swallow, he knew what was happening there. He ran past a few tents and saw Teyla and Captain Còffie working together to help the Athosian women and children. He nodded and continued to the command tent. Inside he found Rodney and other scientist grab their computers as quickly as possible, while other people helped them carry the supplies outside.

"Elizabeth?" he asked.

"Not seen her," Rodney said.

Rodney continued to pack his stuff and John could see the fear in his eyes. An even higher level of fear then he had seen during the debriefing. And worst of all, it was an understandable fear. He went back outside and counted the three ships still flying above the village. He turned his head searching for Elizabeth. Finally, he saw her standing a bit dazed near the edge of the camp and ran to her.

"We brought them here. They followed us," she said, not looking him in the eyes.

He could see she had trouble controlling her emotions. "We need to evacuate now," he said.

"I sent a team to help Sebilsk."

"Elizabeth," he called at her, turning her around. Her eyes were filled with pain. "These people need you." He tried to hide the quiver of anxiety in his voice the best he could.

She merely nodded, straightened her posture and ran to the nearest group of people.

John checked the ships again and along with the beams, the Wraith had started shooting. How dramatic everything was, happening in the village, the longer the Wraith stayed there, the more time they had to find a safe place to hide. People were lead away from the flight path between the village and the Stargate. There would probably be no time to dial out and get everyone into safety before the Wraith turned back. Therefore, John had instructed them to pack as much as possible and hide in the nearby forest and up the hills. During this whole operation, each soldier had enough weaponry in arms reach to shoot at the targets.

"I'm stationed," Lieutenant Cadman reported over the radio to John.

He turned around and saw one of the Puddle Jumpers hover above the ground. "Cloak it before gaining altitude," he ordered and ran to the other Jumper.

"It won't, sir," she said.

"Crap, they haven't repaired it yet. Stay low."

"Yes, sir."

A sudden flash made him look up the hill to the village. A bright yellow cone erupted from the area, engulfing a Wraith ship in the process. The loud thunder and blast wave crashed down through the camp, making everyone stiffen and look up.

John could feel the pressure wave hitting him, pressing most of his air out of his lungs. He swallowed and estimated that the size of the explosion had to have destroyed most of the village.

The remaining Wraith seemed to have lost interest in the village and turned around, heading for their camp. John hasted inside the second Jumper, crashed into the pilot's seat and engaged the engines. He took off, cloaked and positioned his ship in line between the approaching Wraith and the camp. "Lieutenant, fly your ship to the hills on the left side. We need to try to draw the Wraith away. Use evasive tactics. Avoiding getting shot should be your first priority."

"Yes, sir," followed after Cadman had already moved her ship away from the fleeing expedition members.

As John had hoped, one of the Wraith ships swung around and came after Cadman. Unfortunate the second ship kept on course and flew closer to the camp. John had to decide which ship to take as his first target. The one racing after Cadman started shooting and she did her best to steer away from each blast. He quickly assessed the situation and turned from Cadman to intercept the other ship. "Keep him busy while I go after the other," he said to Cadman over the radio.

"I'll do my best, sir," Cadman replied.

John's Puddle Jumper decloaked and flew with great ease to intercept the Wraith, now circling above the camp. Before he could fire at him, he saw a beam from the ship sweep over the ground below. His heart skipped a beat and he swallowed. There was a serious chance that one or more people from the camp had been taken. The moment he would fire these people would die, along with others taken from the village. However, there was no other option. The longer he waited, the more people could be taken by the Wraith. Besides, shooting the ship would mean a fast death compared to the torture the Wraith would put them through. After another deep breath, he fired at the ship. A single drone left the Jumper and soared at its target with high velocity. It took just a few seconds before the Wraith ship became a ball of fire that started to rain down over the area. Luckily it was just outside the camp border and even though John couldn't see if there were people in that area, it seemed unlikely.

He knew the enemy had left him no other choice, but it was his action condemning these people to their deaths. He needed a moment to recover, before he turned the ship and saw the battle between Lieutenant Cadman and the other Wraith on the other side on the hillside.

As fast as the jumper would take him, he flew over and tried to shoot at the Wraith, but this time no drone left the jumper. He had no idea how this was possible and tried again, but again nothing happened. He searched the overview in front of him for a problem, but even though icons and text showed up, he had no time to decipher them. He needed to switch places with Cadman to change the target of the Wraith ship. If it came after him, then Cadman could shoot at it. "Lieutenant, turn and fly straight for my position, head down and let's hope the Wraith like me more then you."

"Yes, sir."

"When you get a clear shot I want you to think about shooting it. The Jumper should fire at the Wraith."

"Understood, sir."

On the screen, he saw Cadman and the Wraith coming towards him. Just as he had instructed her, she headed down, and he set off to draw the Wraith away from her, but it didn't follow him. Instead, it broke off in another direction and headed for the Stargate.

"Shoot it!" John ordered.

There was nothing he could do, except watch as the Wraith flew through the Stargate. Cadman hadn't caught up yet and before she was even above the camp site, the gate disengaged.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said.

"It's okay," John replied and used the opportunity to take a calming breath. "Stay in the air, I'll set down and get the evacuation started." He landed the ship in the middle of the camp and activated his radio again. "Doctor Weir, I would advise you start evacuating, right now."

Not waiting for an answer, John got out of the ship and ran to the DHD. The sooner he dialled out, the smaller the chance was that any Wraith would return. They were lucky that Teyla had told them of a planet they could go in case of an emergency. He checked his pockets and found the note with the gate address. The moment he reached the DHD, he punched in the address and activated the wormhole.

He looked around and saw people running back to the camp. Lieutenant Ford was with the first group and he nodded for him to come. "Go through and let me know if it's safe to get the Jumpers through."

"Yes, sir." Ford answered and walked to the Stargate. He headed through and a few seconds later, his voice sounded over the radio again. "The area is clear."

"Okay, wait for backup and secure the area as soon as possible," John ordered.

"Cadman, fly through and establish a defensive position," he said watching Doctor Weir and Rodney approach him.

He scanned the area again. "I'll take the second jumper through." Elizabeth nodded at him and he walked back to the Jumper while she and Rodney started making sure the evacuation went as smoothly as was possible. Cadman flew through the gate and John followed moments later. They both took positions above the gate area and saw people moving through with the supplies.

John sighed. Since he had stepped through the Stargate on Earth things had become a nightmare. He hoped that it was going to end soon. It saddened him that it was possible that the rescue mission had led the Wraith to this planet and thus causing more death then he had anticipated. That would be the burden he had to live with. He sighed again, not only to calm down, but also to gain strength. All that counted at this specific moment was making sure the people coming through the Stargate would stay safe.

More people came through the gate. He decided it would be best to determine if there was any possible threat on this planet, gained altitude and initiated a long-range scan. For a few minutes, John stared at the readings on the screens in front of him and he was glad nothing out of the ordinary showed up. When he got back Rodney could have a look at the readings to interpret them in more detail, but John was certain the area around the Stargate was safe to set up camp until they could find a better place. With relief, he landed the jumper and sat silently. First, a weak smile formed on his lips, slowly changing to a smirk. The stunts he had pulled with this Jumper, the tricks they had used battling the Wraith were not that bad at all. With a little more effort, maybe they could beat the Wraith and rid this galaxy of their evil once and for all.

~~**~~

Atlantis Expedition Report. Elizabeth Weir.  
With an enemy that seems hungry for the soul there is no real escape. Aware that there is always more to come back for or to hunt down they will always seek their next meal. For us, the first loss to these monsters is hard and frightening and we prayer their deaths were quick and painless.

Died in the line of duty:  
Colonel Marshall Sumner

Killed in the Wraith attack at the first settlement:  
Bart de Groot (Netherlands), Miklos Skounic (Czech), Pedro Paullos (Mexico), Nurse Mei Lee Hong (China), Lieutenant Sarah Coughlin (Canada), Sergeant George Bates (USA), Monica Simpson (USA).


	8. Eight

Elizabeth couldn't believe that it was just coincidence; that they had happened upon the Wraiths next target since leaving Athos. She had to consider that they were being tracked somehow, and whoever was tipping them off with their location was putting the expedition, the Athosians and the planets own people in danger.

She had to stop and think this through. If only there was time. Chances were that right now they were on another planet full of people who would soon be culled when the Wraith came for them. She'd have to ask Teyla or Hallin if they knew anywhere that had zero population. There had to be more than Atlantis that was uninhabited but still habitable.

If she had the luxury of stopping off world travel and taking the time to check everyone, including the Athosians, she would. But she didn't, what she had was 184 surviving members of a 205 strong expedition and about 30 unknown Athosians in the same camp. She didn't know these people, not one of them and she was currently trusting John's judgement about Teyla.

She couldn't think about it right this second, though. Sergeant Stackhouse had been gathering the remaining Sergeants and Lieutenants and was setting up a perimeter. They needed to keep their people in range, if the Wraith attacked again things would have to move fast and anyone outside the perimeter was likely to get left behind or be killed.

Elizabeth added another thing on her to do list. New world address to senior staff and browsed up her ever growing list. Camp base of operations, living tents, military point, medical tent and mess tent, those were just the things she could do now. She also had to find a longer standing supply of food and fresh water, work out how to replenish used ammunitions and find time to sleep. The last item she didn't hold any hopes of achieving in the next few weeks.

As horrible as she'd made it, she'd set rules in the event of another evacuation. Military for protection, they would be the last through and the absolute last would more than likely be John Sheppard - a thought she refused to entertain. Carson had his medical staff under his wing, keeping them on edge, but at the same time they were dealing with injuries from their attack. He kept glancing in her direction, she knew he wanted to tie her to a bed and do a full check up on her, she'd been dizzy and pale for the last two worlds and if she dared talk about it she'd probably admit it had started back on Earth.

Kate Heightmeyer was in amongst the medical staff, weaving through the patients and talking to various people. Elizabeth couldn't envy the woman at this point, Kate had known that just she and two other psychologist would be on a staff of more than 200 people, but now she had to deal with less people, a second set of people and the fact that they were stranded in this galaxy and under attack.

Rodney was in charge of the science and engineering teams, but she knew that he'd already shirked half his duties off on Radek Zelenka. She'd heard him muttering in Czech before moving over to talk to the engineering and construction teams. She'd have to have words with Rodney about that, but right now she couldn't very well add more burden than she already had.

She herself was meant to be organising the civilian members, but a wave of dizziness hit moments ago and she knew by the look on Chuck's face that she'd gone pale. Afraid she'd throw up on him or pass out he'd insisted she sit down. She hadn't argued with that, instead focusing on stopping him calling over one of the doctors. Chuck had since taken over the organising, returning to her to give updates and ask questions. She had to admit he was extremely proficient.

She looked around the people who had stopped for a break, worry evident on their faces and not one of them at all comfortable with their surroundings. Eyes darted to the tree lines and slight sounds made others jerk in shock. She took a deep breath as she watched John and Ford pass through the camp to meet up with Stackhouse. A short conversation later, they parted ways and Elizabeth watched the Major head towards the food supplies currently being handed out.

"Doctor Weir?"

Elizabeth turned at the delicate voice and found Teyla standing nearby. Her nervous posture suggested she was far from comfortable with her people's new situation. Elizabeth couldn't blame her in the slightest.

"Hello, Teyla," Elizabeth said indicating the nearby box for the woman to sit down on. "How can I help you?"

"Are you well?" Teyla asked, carefully perching on the box. Elizabeth felt the frustration at being asked if she was alright, again, rise inside her. At the same time though she felt a stab of guilt, she wouldn't have to be asked if she were able to get up and carry on working - like everyone else.

"Too much on my mind," she offered feebly. It was true. She was far too stressed right now. They had no way to contact Earth, let alone go home and they didn't have the supplies to actually build a camp. The stress, the worry and the lack of food and sleep were weighing on her body and causing her to become ill. It wouldn't matter what Carson gave her, even telling her to rest was a pointless exercise.

"I can imagine," Teyla said with a slight smile. "I would not wish the struggle you have had and will suffer upon my enemies."

For some reason that tweaked at her nerves. She knew Teyla didn't mean it to sounds so horrible or that Elizabeth was worse than her worst enemy, but it stung a little anyway. Elizabeth let her eyes flick to John who was standing half way across the camp watching them, a sandwich in his hand as he chewed on a bite. Forcing the long used diplomacy to the surface, she smiled at Teyla.

"Neither would I," she said as if Teyla had made a light and breezy joke. "Half of them wouldn't know how to organise six people, let alone somewhere close to two hundred and fifty."

Teyla gave a nervous laugh. "If there is any way we can assist you, please let me know."

"Thank you, Teyla," she said expecting the woman to get up and move on, but Teyla didn't move. "Something else?" Elizabeth asked calmly. Teyla looked around, watching for a moment as Chuck stopped nearby and offered each of them a bottle of water.

"I thought perhaps we could discuss an alliance between our people," she said slowly, her fingers lingering over the lid of the bottle. "We are both displaced and in need of help from one another, it would be both wise and to our advantage to help the other."

"I agree," Elizabeth said opening her water and taking a large mouthful. "For a start you know addresses to worlds in this galaxy we can live on or trade with. You might be more valuable to us than we are to you."

"I do not believe that. You have better knowledge of medicine and weaponry, perhaps even better methods of hunting game and farming crops."

Elizabeth laughed. "There is a limited skill set in our group, I'm pretty sure none of them know how to hunt or fish, not to the extent that would feed more than two hundred people."

"Then we are invaluable to each other," Teyla said with a smile. Elizabeth relaxed with her, they had already managed to agree on simplistic things; from here it was just a case of who helped who with what. "If you were to permit us farming land on the world you select to live on, we would farm and hunt to feed both our peoples."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement. "And if you were to provide us with gate addresses to worlds we could explore and trade with, we would lend medical assistance to anyone who required it," she countered.

"I was hoping to join one of your exploration teams when you are settled."

"I'll make sure of it," she said, watching as Teyla got up with a slight bow. "Teyla," she said stepping her. "Are there worlds you know of that have no other inhabitants?"

"There are a few that I know of, but I have not visited them. I will ask others if they remember the addresses."

"Thank you."

~~**~~

Elizabeth's body was confusing her at the moment, her stomach would growl but the sickly feeling from earlier still hadn't abated and a slight amount of dizziness was beginning to follow on its heels. She ignored it all though, things still needed to be settled and someone had unpacked a box that shouldn't have been touched. She had made sure the important equipment was still packed and beside the Stargate. If the Wraith should follow them here, they needed to be ready to grab it and go. She'd let one of the food containers vanish into the mix of things being used at the moment, along with one of the medical boxes, but beyond that, only required equipment was available.

She knew this would lead to a lot of very bored people, but she'd rather let them sit and deal with what was happening than let them get killed in a crunch trying to pack away their things. There was no point in unpacking anything here; she doubted very much these people would let them stay for very long and she had no desire to settle on a world that was already populated. If possible they would find somewhere empty where they could claim and control the Stargate. Otherwise, all they would be doing was infringing on someone's right to come and go, and even if they left the gate open for use, they would be putting themselves in the way of anyone who wanted to use it.

Elizabeth nodded to Chuck and gave a small thanks, he was managing to sort out the civilians easily. Keeping track of the people who should be there and keeping an eye on the supplies. She had a brief moment to think that Walter Harriman had given the young man some hints and tips about being an effective assistant. Not that she thought of anyone on the expedition as an assistant or aid.

She moved away from him, crossing the camp to the small shelter that had been set up as a medical tent. It was made of a canvas the Athosians had managed to collect on the last world and strung up between four trees. If it started to rain here, this would be where half the expedition would head, but for now, it was used only for the medical personnel and anyone requiring their assistance.

She stopped just outside, looking in over the organisation going on inside, the various people still being tended to and the small Athosian boy who had tripped and sprained his ankle on the way down the Stargate steps. She tracked Carson as he moved to the medical supplies box, took something out and heading back to his patient, a moment later he returned to the box and packed the remaining medication away. They were prepared for a short, sharp exit.

Smiling, she moved on, checking on the military personnel bordering the campsite and asking various questions about how quickly they could move to protect the team. Satisfied with the answers Elizabeth turned to move towards Rodney when the dizzy sensation surged and the need to vomit overtook. Without glancing to see if anyone would notice, she darted into the trees just outside the campsite perimeter. She closed her eyes and leaned against one of the trees, her back to the camp she tried to gain control of her stomach so she could continue. She hadn't eaten anything in almost 18 hours there was nothing in her stomach to bring up.

She turned slightly as her stomach rebelled and vomited on the forest floor, her breath caught from the shock of the sudden wave of nausea and her stomach cramped with the effort of bringing up the water she had consumed. When she straightened up, leaning back against the tree and opened her eyes, she was surprised to find Teyla standing nearby with a water bottle held out to her.

"If you are unwell," Teyla started, "perhaps you should visit the medical tent."

"I'm fine," Elizabeth replied, taking a sip of the water. "Just need to get everyone settled so I can get some sleep."

"Your people are capable of taking care of themselves for a few hours while you rest, Doctor Weir, I believe you would serve them well to take some personal time."

"As soon as I'm sure we're safe," she said. "Thank you," she said indicating the bottle before pushing off from the tree and heading back to camp.

"Rodney," she said a little too brightly, but aware that Teyla had followed her. "What are you looking at that's so important you had to hand off more of your responsibilities to Doctor Zelenka?"

"The database," Rodney said, distracted by his computer and almost as though he didn't realise she was there at all.

"What database?" she asked. They had no database on their computers, only small archives of research and information they might require, and all of that was on the main computer, still packed away and beside the Stargate.

"The massive archive of disproportionate size I couldn't get all of on my computer before we..." he trailed off as he turned to look at her, "abandoned Atlantis."

"You saved the database?"

"I did just say 'disproportionate size', right?"

"Rodney," she said indignantly, "why didn't you tell me you saved a portion of the Atlantis database?"

"In case you didn't notice, we've been a little preoccupied with surviving," he spat sarcastically.

"And you're excuse for not telling me now?"

Rodney was silent, she could see the thoughts ticking over in his brain, the possible answers he could give and the selection process he used to come up with a reply.

"Unless you've got something there that could give us a new home," she said stopping him from completing the thought, "I suggest you get back to organising your team."

"I have gate addresses," he said. "I don't know if any of them are suitable, but there are plenty in here."

She watched him type for a moment before turning to glance back at Teyla. Her brow quirked, remembering the conversation she'd shared with the Athosian leader, she beckoned the woman closer.

"Teyla, Doctor McKay," she said motioning to Rodney as she introduced him. "Perhaps you could work together to find a few empty worlds we could explore as possible places to live."

"I don't need help," Rodney said, his voice rising slightly.

"We're in another Galaxy, Rodney. Tell me you know what's on those planets and I'll ask Teyla to help somewhere else," she said and waited as Rodney studied his screen. "Okay then," she said smiling at Teyla before adding. "Don't let his attitude get to you, unless it's relevant, ignore everything else he says."

"Of cause," Teyla said with a slight laugh.


	9. Nine

John spotted Elizabeth walking alone, for a change, and changed course so he could intercept her. She came around a tent and he stepped out in front of her so they stood face to face. He could see he had startled her.

"Teyla told me," he said.

"Did she?" Elizabeth's looked confused. "What did she tell you?"

"You know." His eyes narrows slightly and he tilted his head. "Why haven't you let the doctor check you out yet? He told you to go by for a blood test."

She shook her head disapproving of the question. "I have a camp full of frightened people who need to get settled, John. When do I have time to go in for a blood test?"

John waved his arm in the direction of the medical tent. "Right now." He saw her eyes widen and knew he was onto something.

"I have to check on Rodney before he blows up my computer," she said and turned her head to look past him at something happening in the camp.

"Elizabeth," he sighed. "Something's wrong, you need to go and see the doctor."

"Nothing's wrong," she said a little frustrated and he could see her getting impatient. "There's just too much going on, I haven't slept, haven't eaten and I'm worried about a million and one things."

She had a point there, but that didn't take away his concerns. "Well, I'm worried about you." He saw her mouth open to say something in response, but he cut her off. "You're right, people do need you. But they need you healthy, not sneaking out of camp because you're sick." His words had come out too harsh, but he couldn't change them now. He understood how she felt, but couldn't believe she would neglect her own well being to this extent.

"When we find somewhere to settle, were the Wraith won't come in the middle of the night, I'll let Carson check me over," she said, utilising her diplomatic skills. Her face turned blank and her voice warned him not to push it any further.

"That could take... who knows how long," he said anyway and saw her jaws stiffen, making him yield. "Just promise me you'll go and see him before you go to bed tonight."

"I can't promise that," she explained.

He looked around and she was lucky he didn't see one of the doctors walking nearby. "If you haven't seen a doctor by tomorrow morning I will take you personally," he emphasized.

"You will do no such thing," she spat and immediately calmed down again. Probably aware that frustrating him had no effect. She continued. "When things have calmed down, I will go myself." He was close to actually pulling her to the medical tent right now to get it over with. However, before he could protest about her manners she warned him. "And not before!"

She had declared the end of the discussion and tried to walk away. Instinctively he grabbed her arm and swung her around. She stopped and looked furious at him. He let go and tried to figure out what she was doing. Was she hiding something or too stubborn to take care of herself first. This fight wasn't only about her health, but also about who was in charge. "I mean it," he said after she had turned around again, and walked away.

He took a deep breath to relieve his agitation and watched her until she entered the tent that had been turned into a command post. He could go and ask Doctor Beckett to go and see her, but that would make her more defensive than she already was. It would be fair to give her until the morning to get herself checked out. If by then she still hadn't seen the doctor he would keep his word and drag her in. He shook his head once more before he moved and headed for Captain Siurulainen, to relieve her of duty.

~~**~~

Elizabeth had gone to bed with the intention of sleeping, but hadn't been able to manage it. Her mind buzzed with the things that needed to be done. Her worries and fears were getting the better of her and for the first part of the night she had tossed and turned restlessly before finally giving in and picking up her computer. After several hours and a few files and reports, she'd taken to playing solitaire. It wasn't until around two in the morning that she fell asleep, computer at her side and screen still holding her unfinished game. The screen saver had kicked in by the time she woke at five and it flashed the Atlantis logo at her as if to taunt her about her failures.

She turned over, flattening herself on her front, and sighed. She felt better now and compared to how she'd been the last few days she was positively perfect. For just a few fleeting hours, she had been worry free, no stress, no fears, just her and a vaguely comfortable military camp bed. She allowed herself a few more minutes of comfort before she pushed up and got dressed. Or at least put back on clothes she'd taken off a few hours ago.

Running a hand through her hair, Elizabeth stepped out into the early morning haze. One or two people were wondering towards the food supplies and the medical staff in their tent were lounging or checking on sleeping patients. She stretched out her back and turned to see Teyla step out of the next tent. Her brow creased, she watched as Teyla looked up at the sky with a deep frown and a fair amount of worry.

"Teyla?" Elizabeth asked stepping up close to the woman. "Something wrong?" Silence for just a moment as Teyla stepped away and looked out over the camp. Elizabeth just watched her, studying her stance and expression.

"We need to dial the gate," she said turning towards the gate. "The Wraith are here," she added.

"Are you sure?" Elizabeth asked, her heart was racing and all she could think of was verifying the information.

"I have never been wrong," she said and took off at a run for the gate.

Elizabeth took a deep breath before turning and running the distance to the men's tent. Without pausing to consider the panic her words would cause she shoved the flap aside and stepped inside.

"Wraith," she said and moved to John's bed. "John, get your men moving," she demanded. She spared a moment to see a group of hazy men stirring out of their beds before she looked back down at him.

"What?" John said scrambling out of the bed.

"Teyla's sensed the Wraith, John, their heading our way."

She darted out of the tent, hearing him call to the others to wake up and crossed to the medical tent. Behind her John had already stepped out of the men's tent and was ordering people around, including someone to wake the women. The nurse on duty in the medical tent was watching the events going on outside it with curiosity.

"Find Doctor Beckett," she ordered. "We're evacuating."

She heard the gate activate as she turned back to gather her own things. She turned again to the main camp and watched for a brief seconds as tents were collapsed and equipment packed away. To her left someone screamed and her head snapped around in time to see a Wraith dart screeching towards them.

"Grab what you can and get to the gate," she shouted running across towards a group of people hurriedly stuffing computers and clothing into a box. She seized a stack of scrubs and dumped them in the corner of the box before moving things around to make room for more.

The dart passed overheard and she almost ducked when gunfire rang out behind her. She paused for a moment, listening as the dart moved out of range then turned, heading back towards them. Several other darts came into her hearing range and she closed it off to listen as boxes slammed shut, military and command started barking order and many pairs of feet headed for the gate.

A deep screech reached her ears and she knew the transport beam of the ship had been activated, moments later the hum of one of their own ships zipped over head and she turned in time to see it fire at the Wraith. Whoever was flying their ship hadn't expected the Wraith to go down so fast, Elizabeth barely had time to grab Katie Brown and drag her to the ground before the dart exploded a few feet away.

The sickly feeling from the past few days returned as she lifted up and looked over at the crash. Several of their own people lay scattered around the area. Several armed personnel moved in, checking for pulses they drew any nearby person's attention to help survivors through the gate before moving onto the next. The box in front of her slammed shut, making her jump and it was carried off before she could recognise the men who had taken it.

"Move," Lieutenant Ford shouted from nearby and Elizabeth felt Katie start to run for the gate. She turned, taking a look at the quickly vanishing camp they had built before Ford grabbed her arms, dragged her to her feet and shoved her hard in the right direction.

She staggered, paused as a wave of nausea flooded her and vomited moments before strong arms seized her by the waste and arm and dragged her from the spot. She had a moments panic as a dart beam brushed nearby, the wind pressed up against her for a split second before vanishing completely.

"Wait," she breathed, needing to check everyone made it out before leaving herself.

"Major Sheppard's orders," Hallin said before practically lifting her up the steps to the gate and pushing her through.

She collapsed unceremoniously on the other side and looked up. Teyla pulled her to her feet and moved to her to the side. She had barely sat down on the nearby rock when Carson came running in her direction.

"Are you hurt?" he asked raising her head to look at her and checking her pulse.

"No," she said, wrenching her head out of his hands and turning back to the gate as a large group of men came running through followed by the Jumpers. She managed to pick out Rodney, Chuck and finally John and Ford before the gate shut off and silence fell.

~~**~~

Atlantis Expedition Report. Elizabeth Weir.  
One set of loses never seems to be enough for a hungry enemy. The Wraith take people for later and souls to cured their current desire, but for us it leaves an empty space that needs to be refilled. If only they would give us the opportunity and means to do so.

Died in the Wraith attack at the second settlement:  
Kim Wo Lee (China), Airman Alan King (USA), Airman Charity Rose (USA), Captain Josef Coffie (Jamaica), Captain Jozenko Brasnjer (Russia), Sergean Isaac Stevens (Australia), Hanako Ono Yoko (Japan), Ammon Massri (Egypt).

~~**~~

"I think it's pretty damn obvious by now. We've got a spy in the camp."

Elizabeth knew those words would cause a reaction and she watched John swallow, Carson almost jump out of his seat and Rodney began to stammer his "what?" over and over. Teyla's brow had creased and it was this response that caught her attention most. The Athosians, however nice and however helpful they had been so far, were at the top of her suspect list. They had just met them and it didn't escape her notice that the first attack was on their homeworld. However, she wasn't ready to pass judgment just yet and she needed their cooperation right now.

"We need to find out who," she continued, "or at the very least what they are tracking and destroy it before the Wraith come again. For now, let's assume 'what'."

"We could leave it here, no village for them to attack, no one to cull, they'll follow any tracker and be stuck with an empty planet." Sometimes Rodney's ramblings could be useful. She'd already told them, shortly after they arrived that she had no intention of staying on this planet. When they'd given her a confused look she had gone on to tell them she'd explain in this meeting.

"Pack up quickly, leave the planet for another place and let the Wraith know we're not going to let them track us forever," Carson added.

"That's why I told you to only unpack what you needed. We're not staying, we're moving hopefully one last time. But we need to find out how they are tracking us. If it's our own equipment, we'll leave it, if it's something someone is using to tip them off," she paused to give Teyla an apologetic look," then we'll deal with that.

"What do you have in mind?" John asked.

Elizabeth turned to look at Rodney expecting him to come up with the answer to that question. How to detect something that was giving the Wraith their location was a little more technical than she was capable of thinking. Rodney and his team however, were completely in their element.

"Why are you looking at me?" Rodney asked with a look of horror on his face.

"You're the scientist?" John offered.

"Oh I see, because I'm an astrophysicist, I'm supposed to have all the answers about what the Wraith can detect?"

"No, because you're the techno buff, you're supposed to come up with a quick and easy way to search everyone for something that the Wraith could detect."

In another situation, the conversation panning out would have amused her to no end. She would have let the banter between them fly for at least half an hour before interrupting. But today they had a very short time span to work with and with each minute they wasted arguing they came closer and closer to another Wraith attack.

"Gentlemen," she said with a warning tone. "We don't have time for this. Give me options."

"Bring me everything technological, even the slightest bit of technology could be a transmitter. We'll do a quick diagnostic on whatever you bring," Rodney said. He sounded tired and it made her think that she hadn't actually spent anytime considering that her staff was working too hard. She knew she was, John had already told her off for that, either that or they'd had their first fight for the command spot. At the very least, she prayed it had nothing to do with what had happened before they left.

"Okay," she said looking around the tired faces. "John, you and the military contingent need to start searching people, clothing and personal items, don't let anyone hide anything. Search people, take off jewellery, empty pockets and take anything that contains even a microchip to Rodney." She sighed. "To make it easier, team leaders will go through their own equipment and inventory." She paused again, but this time to gather herself for the next step. "Teyla," she said and swallowed hard before looking at the woman, "we need the Athosians to agree to this as well, any possible item they take with them will put everyone in danger."

"I will see to it, but they may be reluctant to being searched by one of your military."

"Within which case let them be searched by one of your own with a member of the military nearby."

"Very well," Teyla said with a slight nod.

Elizabeth nodded to let them know she was done and they could go make a start. As they moved away, she caught John's eye and nodded for him to join her before walking further away from the crowded areas.

"Are we talking just a pat down or a strip search?" John asked. She could see him quickly considering his options before he added. "Do I get to search you?"

"A very inappropriate time to be thinking about me naked, isn't it?"

"Who said I was thinking naked?" he smirked and she quirked a brow. "Not that it's not worth thinking off," he added and she could feel the blush rise fast. She cleared her throat.

"You need to start the search, select a few men, search them and then branch out from there."

"Who's gonna search me?"

She had to bite her tongue from stating the obvious. She wanted to say 'me' but that would just bring them back to the 'who's going to search her' conversation they had just had.

"If you promise to behave, we'll search each other last."

"I can't make promises like that," he said with a smirk.

Elizabeth hummed at him, gave him a teasing look, clasped her hands in front of her and turned away from him.

"Let me know when you're ready," she said as she walked away.


	10. Ten

Elizabeth's eyes wandered over the camp. The place was a complete mess, electrical equipment all over the area and a group of scientists sitting in the middle of it working as fast as they could. Elizabeth watched, wishing she could offer to help them, but she would be slower than them and would probably hinder more than help.

She'd found a few volunteers to keep track of what they finished with, keeping things in separate piles so every now and again anyone missing an item from their own stockpile or personal things could go check to see if they could have it back. Chuck, as it turned out, was the best person for the job and currently stood in the middle of the completed pile with a computer in hand and a list of items the science team had deemed safe.

He was making sure anything that went passed him went back to the right person. Not that they knew what belonged to whom at this point, but at least he could say who had taken something if someone else were to ask for the same specific item.

Either way the place was a complete mess and if the Wraith picked now to show up, they'd have to leave with most of their equipment scattered across the current camp. The mess around Chuck grew as a few more people added to the collection and Elizabeth quirked a brow at how much was still unclaimed.

"Could all personnel please remember to collect tested equipment on a regular basis," she announced over the radio and watched as several people appeared and started asking for their things. She watched as the pile depleted slightly before turning to check on the search.

Finding John with the Athosians, she stopped next to him and watched as Cadman emptied the bag of one of the Athosians. The old woman smiled at her and turned her attention back to Laura to watch her shift through her belongings.

"Nothing," Laura declared.

"Good," John said. "Help Charin pack her things away, then go tell Rodney the last two people are being searched now."

"Yes, sir," Laura said.

"Doctor Weir," he said turning to her with a cheeky grin. "Please report to my personal tent for cavity searching."

"You won't get that lucky," she said giving Laura a grin as the woman turned to quirk a brow at them. "And we're starting with you."

Elizabeth grinned and turned away from him to head for his tent. Inside, she waited for John to hoist his backpack onto the bed and open it before she started searching the smaller pockets. He helped her unpack all the items and she quirked a brow at the book he had at the bottom of the bag.

"War and Peace?" she asked.

"I figured we be out here a while," he explained with a grin.

"I didn't even think to bring a book," she mused.

Her personal item was a lot more personal and she'd slipped it in with the item she'd shown to the IOA and SGC. It suddenly occurred to her that John would find it and she faltered in her search. He had nothing but his book, clothes and essentials supplied by the Air Force. She helped him pack it back up, which he did with surprising speed and efficiency.

He moved around the bed to stand in front of her, his playful grin back in place and she resisted the urge to shake her head at him. All the discomfort between them had vanished and her fingers tingled to do more than search him.

"Jewellery?" she asked, taking a look down the length of his body.

"Watch," he said showing it to her, "Rodney already cleared the military watches."

She nodded and took a step forward and tucked her hands into his jacket pockets. They were empty, but she couldn't resist pausing there and looking up at him, he was studying her closely and it made her very self aware of how close they were at that moment in time. They had agreed that it would never happen again, and even if they did let go again, now would be far from the best time.

Elizabeth pulled her hands free of his jacket and went for the pockets in his pants. Again empted and she smirked and quirked a brow before pressing closer.

"Enjoying this?" she asked.

"Too much," he said, his voice strained and he swallowed several times before she pulled back.

"Back pockets?" she asked and regretted it instantly.

"Oh yeah."

"Dream on, Major," she said with a smile and turned towards the flap.

She crossed the camp to the women's tent and vanished inside. It was empty and for a moment she wished it wasn't. Flirting with John was one thing, teasing him was another and having him tease her, which she knew was coming very soon, was practically a world of its own. She turned as the tent flap rustled and she watched John duck inside before turning to her own backpack and lifting it onto the bed. She started to untie the bag when his hand stopped her.

"Let me," he said and she nodded before pulling back. She watched as he pulled out each item from the main compartment, unfolding clothes to check pockets for hidden items and then folding them again before setting them on the bed, she watched his brow quirk as he shifted through her underwear in silence and repacked her clothes. He searched quickly through the pouches containing standard items and fixed her eyes on his hands as he reached into zip pouch on the front.

He pulled out the small box and flicked it open to look at the silver pocket watch inside. She swallowed, hoping he wouldn't need to look further than that and had to close her eyes when he pulled the watch out and removed the foam cushion it was resting on. She turned away, more in frustration that he'd found her engagement ring than in embarrassment that she wasn't actually wearing it. She looked back at him when the box snapped shut and John tucked it into his pocket and zipped it up.

"The watch will need to be checked," he said. She could hear the dryness in his throat and she watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed before circling the bed to stand in front of her.

She couldn't look up at him, shame flooded her and she fixed her eyes on the zip of his jacket as she waited for her search. It didn't come for some time and she wondered if he was debating asking about the ring or just asking her to turn out her pockets to save himself from touching her.

"I take it I don't get my strip search."

She looked up, he was smirking at her and she felt every muscle in her body relax at the playfulness in his face.

"Not on this planet," she knew instantly that she'd said the worst possible thing.

"I'll save it for the next world."

"Can we get this over with please," she said only half joking.

"Why?" he said, his hands settling on her waist over her jacket pockets. "If you didn't like having me touch you..."

"Don't," she said failing to hold back the laugh that came with him joking about their 'meeting' prior to moving to Atlantis. She looked away from him for a moment. When she looked back he had turned serious.

"How long have you been sick, Elizabeth?" He asked, leaning into her ear and pressing the heels of his palms against her stomach.

"And don't do that either."

"Do you really think I wouldn't find out? Teyla told me Hallin grabbed you from the floor after you were sick again."

"I'd just watched a dart crash and kill a few of our people, John."

"You still haven't reported to Carson for a check-up," he added.

"Can we please drop this until we've found out how the Wraith are following us?"

"Elizabeth, I'm serious ..."

"I will see him when we're settled on the next world, I promise."

"I found it," Rodney said bursting into the tent at that moment. She turned to look at the shock horror on his face as he took in the position they were standing in. She hadn't noticed how close John had been standing, but she became very aware of his hands as he let them drop from her sides.

"Found what?" Elizabeth asked, trying very hard to ignore the fact that Rodney was now looking between them with an expression that screamed he was trying to figure out their relationship.

"What were you two doing?" he asked. She glanced at John hoping he would be able to formulate an answer quicker than she could but was thankfully stopped by Rodney. "You know what, don't answer. I found it."

"Found what?" she repeated.

Rodney held out a necklace made of a rough material or strings that held a pendant. She'd seen it somewhere before, but couldn't place its location right now.

"That's Teyla's locket," John said.

"It's a transmitter. It's been broadcasting a continuous signal. I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't been looking for it specifically."

"I found it," John said with a sigh.

"What?"

"Back on her planet, the first time we met. Teyla took me to the old ruins. It was half buried in dirt. I gave it to her."

"The locket isn't powerful enough to send a signal very far, certainly not through subspace. My guess is there are probably relay devices on certain planets that pick up the transmission and then alert the nearest hive ship."

"We're just lucky enough to stay on those planets," Elizabeth put in with a touch of sarcasm. "Teyla had no idea she was giving away our position?"

"She said it was a present from her father. She lost it when she was a kid," John explained.

"It was probably dormant 'til Major Sheppard picked it up, activating it. As far as the Wraith are concerned, Teyla is just another human being, they would have no special interest in tracking her. Now, Major Sheppard on the other hand..."

"...has the Ancient gene," Elizabeth finished for him.

"Seems like the Wraith created these transmitters to detect Ancients, probably back when they were at war with one another."

"Either way," John said, "we can use that to our advantage. If we get everyone off the planet and somewhere safe, a few marines could stick around here, see if we can catch a Wraith."

"And were exactly will we hold a Wraith?" Elizabeth asked with a raised brow. "We don't even have sleeping tents right now, let alone a prison that would hold an angry, soul sucking alien."

"Okay," John said, his tone a little disappointed.

"We'll try to find you a new toy to play with," Rodney said. "Anyway, now that we know what it is, can we stop searching?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said with a smile. "Make an announcement for people to collect their things. "Let's get out of here before the Wraith find us."

~~**~~

With all their equipment packed away and everyone ready to move one last time, Elizabeth watched as Rodney dialled the gate to what would hopefully be their new settlement. It had been a long few days, she couldn't remember sleeping more than a few hours in one go and the last time she'd eaten food felt like a lifetime ago. Despite the lack of food, her body still managed to find a way to rebel. She'd been lucky so far today, she hadn't had so much as had a dizzy spell, but she'd be kidding herself if she expected the rest of the afternoon and evening to go the same way.

The wormhole engaged and she couldn't avoid the flinch, she'd get used it, she really would, but for now it was a little scary to watch the wormhole stabilise. As they should have done on previous trips, one of the marines stepped through the gate to do a quick preliminary check. They'd lost their only MALP on the first settlement, only managing to take it with them when they'd left Athos. Maybe when things had settled down, John could send a team to see if it was still intact and useable. There was a moment's silence, two men through the gate and another keeping it open and finally her radio buzzed to life.

"Doctor Weir, it looks clear here. Very nice scenery too, ma'am."

"Thank you," she said activating her radio. "We're evacuating now," she added, then turned to Rodney and nodded.

"All right," he called out. "Everyone out."

"Subtle," she muttered and turned away.

Weaving her way through the crowed, she took note of Ford, standing along one side moving people along and John on the other. They would be the last two through the gate and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to be just one step ahead of them. She'd make sure everyone else was through first and that was that. She huffed to herself as she considered John's response to that proclamation, he wouldn't be pleased at best, trying to order her through the gate to protect her, tell her the expedition needed her. Well they needed him too.

She paused to look back at the gate, watching as her people left the planet to what she hoped was safety and a final resting place. The last thing they needed now was another Wraith attack to push them to yet another planet. She gave a deep sigh before a small argument turned her attention and swung around to find the problem.

"I'm not leaving without it," Doctor Corrigan said, her voice raised slightly towards Rodney.

"Then you can stay here and become Wraith food," Rodney returned.

"What's going on?" Elizabeth asked, interrupting any possible reply from Corrigan.

"I can't find my father's Purple Heart from the Korean War," Corrigan said. "I had it a few minutes ago, I put it in my pocket and now it's gone."

Elizabeth turned and beckoned over one of nearby Sergeant's, he separated from the group and moved to join them.

"Ma'am?" he asked.

"Help Doctor Corrigan find her personal item," she said then turned to Rodney. "Get through the gate, start getting things settled."

"Erm," Rodney said halting her before she could turn fully away from him. "Not that I want to remain and be the entrée or anything, but you should be off this world before me, and long before half the..." She stopped him with a look and watched him swallow. "I'll see you on the other side," he said and headed towards the gate.

Elizabeth turned to look for John and had to stiffen to control her balance. The dizziness had returned and was quickly consuming her. She staggered forwards a few steps and paused to get her bearings. It felt as though the planet tilted for a moment before she moved swiftly forwards and vanished into the tree line hoping that no one noticed. She passed a few trees and stopped to catch her breath before dropping to her knees to vomit.


	11. Eleven

John looked around and saw only a few people left in the area in front of the Gate. Another group of six people went through the gate leaving only him, Ford and two others behind. From a distance he couldn't quite make out what it was they were doing, so he walked over. "Sergeant, what's going on?"

"I lost something," Doctor Corrigan said. "Doctor Weir gave me permission to look for it.

"I was asked to help, Sir," Sergeant Wiggill added.

John frowned. This was all bad timing. "We don't have time for this. We have to leave now."

"But..." Corrigan stammered.

"We'll come back later to do a search." John looked at the Sergeant who nodded and they both guided Corrigan to the Stargate. She almost started crying, but John's first priority was getting everybody into safety this time. He activated his radio to confirm their approach. "Rodney, Sergeant Wiggill and Doctor Corrigan are here with me and Ford. Can you confirm everybody is accounted for?"

There wasn't an immediate response from Rodney, making John believe he was probably checking the lists. Since there was little more to do then wait for Rodney's answer, John turned around and scanned the area in the hope that maybe he would catch a glimpse of the item Corrigan had lost. He was about to ask her what it was she was looking for when Rodney finally spoke up.

"Erm," Rodney cleared his throat. "You forgot to mention Doctor Weir, but everyone else is here."

"What?" John exclaimed, not believing what he just heard. He spun looking around, but there was no sign of Elizabeth. "Rodney?"

"She stayed behind and wanted to make sure everyone got through safely before joining me on this side."

John turned to the others. "Anyone seen Weir?"

They shook their heads and John activated his radio again. "Doctor Weir, please respond." Without waiting for an answer, he quickly tapped his radio again to return to his conversation with Rodney. "We don't see her around, but will look for her.

"I re-checked here, but she's not on this side of the wormhole," Rodney expressed with a hint of stress in his voice.

"We'll be there as soon as we found her," John reassured him and turned to the others. "Okay, looks like you have a little more time to search. Sergeant you'll stay with her, while Ford and I go look for Doctor Weir."

A surge of frustration ran through John's body. Why was she doing this to him, trying to get on his nerves so many times in the last few days? He activated his radio again. "Elizabeth, we need to go now, where are you?" Inside he was cursing. He hailed her again, but still got no response. He should have dragged her to the doctor earlier; then this wouldn't have happened.

"Lieutenant, start a search from the right, I'll take the left and we'll meet in the middle."

"Aye, sir," Ford confirmed and ran off to the tree line.

John ran to the opposite side and tapped the radio again. "Elizabeth, say something!" His voice was filled with a mixture of frustration and concern. He reached the nearby trees and was glad that there were only a few bushes and he could see deep into the forest. He heard the Stargate disengage and continued to head deeper into the forest. Only a few seconds later the gate dialled again. John tried to contact Rodney, but figured he was probably out of communications range. Gunshots fired by Sergeant Wiggill made him realize that it wasn't Rodney who had dialled back, but the Wraith had come. He opened the radio channel of his headset. "Fall back!" he ordered and started to run through the forest, still trying to locate Elizabeth.

~~**~~

Elizabeth pressed her back against the tree, her head turning sharply to the right as gunfire erupted in that direction. She'd heard the gate open, heard Lieutenant Ford call her name and then John shouting something that had been overshadowed by a rush and squeal of what was unmistakably a Wraith dart. The gunfire paused and she turned to look around for a moment. She was ready to move, the dizziness and nausea still nipping at her heels, she'd head for the gunfire. Finding one of their own instead of a Wraith was clearly advisable.

She turned her body and paused to whip her head to the left, a shadow, or something misty just in her vision and a slight movement further to the left. The Wraith were on foot as well as in the air. She moved quickly, heading towards the firing gun as she heard the piercing scream of a woman and her brain had to pause just for a moment before she realised the only other woman who should be left here was Doctor Corrigan.

She didn't stop, moving away from the gate and towards the still firing gun she tripped over something and in a slight moment of panic staggered quickly to her feet. A second and third gun started almost together and she turned to look back out towards the camp wondering who was still there before turning back around to look for the other shooter.

Her breath caught, her heart beating wildly in her chest as her eye set on the horribly ghost white face of a Wraith. His long twisted hair was pushed back behind his shoulders and the long black coat only made him seem more daunting. He grinned at her as he took a step forward and then took another to enter her personal space. She couldn't look away, couldn't move despite her brain screaming at her to run.

"Such a shame," he croaked, his voice was deep and harsh as though he didn't use that organ of his body much. His hand came up and one long nail scrapped down her check. "Such a pretty life to be lost," he added, his grin turning more twisted as if he was mocking her. "Your child will make you twice," he stepped forward again, "as," he paused, if only for effect, to suck in a long breath, "tasteful."

She felt her shirt rip as one of his words started to reverberate through her head. His cold hand pressed in against her skin, long nails scratching close, but not close enough to break her skin yet and she closed her eyes hoping it would be over quickly. A single gunshot made her jump and the cold slimy hand pulled quickly from her chest. She opened her eyes as the Wraith turned and advanced on someone else. She felt the wave of nausea ripple down her body as Ford fired the last few bullets he had in his clip but the Wraith continue. She saw the Lieutenant pull his knife but he was too slow and she watched in horror, the bile rising in her throat as his skin turned pallid and wrinkled and hair white with age; until finally he crumpled to the ground nothing more than a thin husk of an old man who should still look healthy and vibrant.

Elizabeth couldn't breathe as the Wraith turned back to her. She felt the wet of a tear run down her cheek as he made short work of the distance between them and then his grin was back and her skin crawled with the feel of his hand back on her chest. Another tear slipped out and she bit her lip as she felt his nails break the skin and the nodule on his hand press in, sharp and prickled. His grin grew just a little before the gunfire started again, this time never ending and she felt his hand rip back from her chest opening the cuts a little more and increasing the pain.

He turned to the new attacker, but before he managed to take more than two steps he dropped to the ground; dead.

Her eyes closed and she tried hard not to imagine Ford's life being sucked from his body or the glint in the Wraiths eye as he first prepared to feed on her. A hand on her shoulder made her breath catch and she opened her eyes to see John standing close.

"You okay?" he asked. The question made her think for just a moment, watching a man die, watching the Wraith die and having him so close, close enough to smell and feel, and then his words echoed in her brain again. Her breathing calmed suddenly as she tried hard to focus on John, but his face blurred unnaturally and she felt herself sway. She knew what was coming and there was no way to fight it. The edges of her vision blurred and she managed to only shake her head before everything turned white and then darkness descended as she passed out.

~~**~~

Instinctively John knelt beside Elizabeth and briefly checked the wounds on her chest. They were small and barely bleeding. He pulled open a pocket on his vest and extracted a few small medical bandages and quickly applied them to the cuts. They would do for a short while, until they got back to the camp. He didn't know how many Wraith were still on the planet and if they would leave if he simply went into hiding. His best option was to try to go to the gate and escape.

Carefully he lifted Elizabeth from the ground and looked around. For the moment, there were no Wraith in their neighbourhood. What he did see was the aged body of Lieutenant Ford. Elizabeth had more luck than he had and he knew for sure that Ford had tried to save her. Gently, he set Elizabeth down and tore Ford's dog tags from his neck, putting them in a vest pocket. He gave a salute. "We'll bring you home," he whispered. Elizabeth was still unconscious and limp when he pulled her back in his arms.

He plotted a straight course from his current position to the Stargate and followed that path. Before leaving the safety of the tree line, he scanned the clearing. Again, luck seemed to be with him, because he saw no Wraith. While walking to the DHD he saw the aged body of Doctor Corrigan, she held a small box in her hand.

John looked sideways and saw two dead Wraith and an aged Sergeant Wiggill lying on the ground. His eyes were open and he nodded tiredly. "Go, take Doctor Weir to safety," he said weakly.

John swallowed and knew he couldn't save them both at once. He knelt briefly, took the box from Doctor Corrigan's hand and nodded to Wiggill. "I'll send someone back for you."

"Thank you, sir," the severely aged men said.

They both knew the words spoken were merely protocol this time, considering that returning here would probably cost more men than they would save. John swallowed as the Sergeant spoke again.

"I'll cover you, sir. Hurry!"

John turned and saw two Wraith coming back from the forest. Without thinking, he removed his machine gun, threw it to Wiggill and continued quickly to the DHD. He lingered for a few seconds, not knowing if it was wise to dial for the new planet or do a detour again. He had done that trick before with the Wraith on his tail and it had proven to be a successful diversion. However, he couldn't be certain those planets were still safe. Wiggill started shooting at the Wraith and he had no more time to delay his decision. He dialled for Sebilsk's planet, knowing that was completely deserted. The chance of the Wraith still being there was slim. He tapped the address and initiated the wormhole.

"Go!" Wiggill yelled still firing at the Wraith.

John briefly turned around and saw one dead Wraith and the other ripping the gun from the Sergeant. He turned his head back, not wanting to look. Taking a deep breath he turned back and nodded his thanks to Wiggill as the Wraith began to feed on him.

With an unconscious Elizabeth still in his arms, Ford's dog tags in his pocket and Corrigan's box in his hands, he turned around for the last time, leaving three victims of the Wraith behind. With stinging pain in his heart, he stepped through the Stargate. While the wormhole closed, he gently walked to the DHD and dialled for the new planet. He activated his radio as he walked to the gate again. "I found Elizabeth, she needs medical attention," he said just before entering the Wormhole.

On the other side he found a whole team aiming guns at him and both Rodney and Doctor Beckett racing towards him. He walked straight passed the soldiers and headed for the two men carrying a stretcher.

Doctor Beckett grabbed Elizabeth's wrist and checked her pulse while John lay her down on the stretcher.

"What happened?" Rodney asked and John could read he was afraid of the answer.

John himself was just as dazzled by everything that had happened. The whole evacuation had gone smoothly, but it still ended with the loss a three good people. "We're the only survivors." He breathed and walked away. He needed to be alone and clear his head. Captain Lorne approached him and saluted, he nodded and knew he would report to Rodney to get his orders and get things organized in the camp.

He knew Elizabeth was in good hands when he glanced backwards and saw Doctors Beckett and Keller on either side of her. He bowed his head, clutched the box tight in his hand until it hurt and walked to the side of the camp. He sat down on a trunk, overseeing the campsite, but his eyes were focussed on a Purple Heart inside the box and the dog tags of his best friend in the Pegasus galaxy.

~~**~~

Atlantis Expedition Report. Elizabeth Weir.  
I hope now that we have found an uninhabited planet and left the Wraith tracker as a parting gift from our previous, that we will be able to settle down and do what we can of our original mission. Still, one last set of losses stings our souls and we, as with all those dead in the last few days since leaving Earth, will remember them, their names, their faces and the work, however fleeting, that they did for us. We left Earth 205 people strong and have lost 32. The Athosians that have joined us number at 35 leaving us now a colony of 208 people. We will survive and return to Atlantis.

Died in the Wraith attack at the third and final settlement:  
Lieutenant Aiden Ford (USA), Sergeant Dominick Wiggill (South Africa), Brenda Corrigan (Philippines)


	12. Twelve

It had been one day since they had come to this world and so far no sign of the Wraith. There was still a defensive team guarding the gate and all none important equipment was still packed. However, this time they knew it was very unlikely the Wraith would track them to this place. Rodney had already suggested creating an iris for the Stargate. This would increase their defences and keep any unwanted visitors away from the planet. Although this did seem like a reasonable solution, Teyla could not confirm other people wouldn't come to this planet. For the time being the idea was noted as a possibility, but it would not be implemented yet.

John had walked around the campsite the whole day, helping people where he could. This had eased his feelings. Late in the afternoon, he had spoken to Doctor Beckett who reported to him that Elizabeth was released from the medical tent and she could return to duty after a night's rest. Without even realizing, he had sighed in relief and smiled. Carson had looked rather serious, but didn't answer the question about what was wrong with Elizabeth. He had just told him that she would be fine, excused himself and left. John knew something was going on, but dropped the matter for now and would talk to Elizabeth later.

The beginning of nightfall made everyone a little tense and people started to walk around, nervous about spending their second night on this strange new world even knowing that the camp was secure for at least five miles. For now, everyone was still busy. Teyla and other Athosians helped setting up campfires, scientists still worked on analyzing the data from earlier scans, medics were still treating minor injuries and re-bandaging people and above all that the military personnel kept security teams active around the clock to protect those in the camp. Everyone used the last rays of sunlight to their advantage and finished their work.

Those that had finished their tasks were gathering around the campfires. They were talking and preparing food. John walked around looking for Elizabeth, but didn't see her.

"Here," Teyla said, offering him a cup with a clear liquid inside.

She had startled him and he looked somewhat confused. However, he accepted the cup with a satisfied smile. The smell betrayed the drink inside was a little stronger than plain water and his smile widened. "Thanks."

"You are welcome. Are you alright, Major Sheppard?"

He took a large sip and almost choked, not anticipating how strong the drink actually was. He recovered. "Yeah, I'm fine." His voice sounded croaky and he was glad he had made Teyla smile widely.

"Perhaps I should have warned you," she said with her kind and calm voice.

"It's okay."

"Major," Teyla started her new sentence. This time she used a more serious. "It's not your fault."

John swallowed and forced the smile back on his lips. "It's not yours either."

Teyla bowed her head slightly before looking him straight in his eyes. "My people will help with everything we can."

"As will mine," John added and knocked his cup against hers.

Teyla nodded her understanding respectfully and turned to the campfire to sit down beside Hallin.

"Hey, Teyla," John said. "Have you seen Doctor Weir anywhere?"

She went silent for a moment, trying to remember. She looked up at him. "The last time I saw her was a few hours ago. She walked from the medical tent to the nearby cliff. She said she was fine and that she wanted some time alone. She looked much better than yesterday."

John saw concern forming on her face again and wanted to take it away. Maybe he was just being overprotective, there was no benefit to others adopting his worries. "Thanks. I know she's fine or the doctor wouldn't have released her." He smiled again and took another sip.

"Do you want me to tell her you're looking for her if I see her?"

John shook his head. "No it would be best..."

"Sure," she interrupted him. "Give her my best wishes if you find her."

A broad smile made him feel warm and happy inside. "I can do that."

He glanced around the camp one more time, before deciding that either Elizabeth was in her private tent or she wasn't in the camp at all. He walked to her tent, the one he had set up for her personally after deciding she would get more rest alone then in the nurse's tent. He tried to knock on the outside and cleared his throat. "Elizabeth, you inside?" he asked. He waited for a moment, but got no answer. Carefully he moved the flap aside and stepped inside. There was no sign of her.

He checked the campfires and again didn't spot her sitting at one of them. His mind tried to figure out where she could have gone. He remembered Teyla saying she was going to the cliffs. It had been hours ago, but maybe she was still there.

With steady paces, he left the area and walked through a small patch of trees and low bushes to the cliff. When the lights from the camp dimmed, he looked up and saw a few stars already twinkle high in the sky. This planet already had so much beauty to offer and they had barely scratched the surface of their discoveries.

In front of him, he found Elizabeth sitting on a small rock. Her eyes were fixed on the Ocean and he could she her body shake. For a moment he froze, deciding if he should or shouldn't go over and intrude on her personal moment. He took a deep breath and remembered the hard time he had yesterday and knew she could use someone to talk to.

Quietly, he walked over and gently laid his hand on her shoulder. "Breathtaking isn't it." Right at the moment, the last sunray sunk into the Ocean and for only a few brief seconds the most beautiful scene happened just in front of their eyes. A colourful nebula came out of hiding and glittered in the sky. It seemed like pure magic shortly revealing itself and waiting for someone to uncover its true secret.

With eyes filled with tears she looked up to him and instantly his heart melted. He knew she needed him and couldn't help himself for wanting to be there for her. He dropped to his knees and embraced her.

~~**~~

Elizabeth's breath caught when she felt John's hand on her shoulder and for a moment, she had to look away before she could look at him. Before she could say anything, he was in front of her and had her engulfed in a hug. She was too shocked to react, after what had happened between them she never expected any sort of emotional response from him, especially not physical contact.

"Are we lost?" she asked, letting out a soft sob.

"Lost?" he asked. "No, we're not lost."

"How can you be sure? We're on a random planet thousands of light years from home."

"I know the gate address," John joked.

Elizabeth gave a small laugh though her tears and pulled back from him with a sniff. She dropped her head for a moment wiping away the tears and composing herself. For some reason she could trust John not to hassle her about crying or appearing weak for a short time. It didn't last long as her mind flipped over to the people they had lost and their families who would never know.

"We've lost so many people."

She watched him swallow. "Yeah, I know. But we saved the Athosians, and if we find a way to kill the Wraith we can save lots more."

"We can't even think about that yet," she said dropping her head into her hands then pushed up quickly, panic on her face and her mind running a mile a minute. "We need to figure out how we're gonna survive here first, set up our base, living tents - medical, science and food, before we can even begin to think of fighting the Wraith."

"Hey, take it easy. You need to calm down. Let's just take small steps, okay?"

"How do you take small steps when you have to begin your life all over again?"

"Well," John said, pausing to lick his lips. "First we're gonna make sure you're okay. Then we'll go talk to Rodney and Teyla and see what they know," he paused and shifted closer. "Elizabeth, you don't have to do everything alone."

She nodded, her mind wandering back to her conversation with Carson he'd said the same thing about something completely different, something she'd love to hear John say the same thing about. She had to tell him sooner or later, she just wanted to find the right time. Now wasn't it and a fresh wave of tears slipped down her cheek as she wondered if there would ever be a right time. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"I'm fine," she added a little nod to the statement. "Carson wouldn't let me leave until he was sure of that."

"Yeah, you were still in the land of bad dreams when I carried you in." John paused again and nudged her knee. "Hey, I'm sorry I pushed you so much, but..."

"You needed to be sure. I understand," she said with a nod as she reached up to brush away the last of her tears.

"I'm just glad you're okay, and you're still a great expedition leader. I'm sure we'll find a way to explore and maybe even contact Earth again. Who knows what's possible, maybe we'll even get back to Atlantis some day." He gave her a grin that she wasn't sure was meant to be flirting, maybe more sarcastic than anything else. "A couple of months ago when I thought about aliens, I came up with little green men on Mars, boy was I wrong, so if space travel is possible, why not find a way to live here and hopefully kill a few bad guys in the process."

"I'm a terrible leader," Elizabeth said with only a hint of sarcasm, she wasn't completely sure she was a good leader, but she did know she had to carry on trying and hope that nothing else went seriously wrong. "But I will let your pick the members of your team."

"My what?"

"Your team, Major," she chuckled at him. "You need a team to go exploring and find us some allies out here."

"You remember me saying I can get us into all sorts of trouble, right?"

"I'm pretty sure I've already beaten you to that," she smiled at him for a moment before looking back out over the sea. John gave her a hurt look when she turned back to him.

"I promise to try and be nice to the Wraith then. How about I smile when I shoot them?" He smirked and she couldn't help but laugh a little and quirk a brow.

"No, that much sarcasm doesn't suit you."

John grinned. "You better get used to it, cause I'm not leaving anytime soon."

"I hope not," she said. She needed him for far too many reasons right now. "I'm relying on you to keep me sane."

She looked back over the sea, the darkness had crept in too far for her to see much beyond the edge of the cliff, but the moonlight was making the water shimmer slightly and she could see just enough of the white foam that showed the curve of the island down one side. Beside her John had shifted to sit on the floor, but she could tell he was edgy sitting there, perhaps still on a buzz from all the things that had happened lately or eager to get back to the light of the campfire.

"Here," John said and handed her the box with her pocket watch and ring.

She blinked before taking it from him with a feeble thanks. She didn't know what to do with it now, her father's watch was important to her and she'd keep it for as long as they were here, but Simon's ring was just a reminder that she'd abandoned him.

"So," he said a moment later and she looked down at the top of the messed hair. "Feeling better enough to join me to sit around the warm and cosy campfire? Drink a few metal mugs of Athosian moonshine?"

Elizabeth swallowed and shook her head before she realised he wouldn't be able to see her movements.

"I came out here to avoid everyone. I'm not ready to be Doctor Elizabeth Weir again just yet." She paused, wanting to find another excuse to stop him going to get drinks for them. "Besides, Carson's diagnosis means I can't drink."

"Okay, just don't dwell too much on what happened," he offered. She could practically pick out the point he realised what she'd said about the doctor. "Can't drink?" he asked, she could hear the worry in his tone of voice. "What did the doc say?"

She looked away; she didn't want to do this, not now, not ever. Trapped billions of miles from home; from Simon and after everything that had happened between her and the two men in her life over the last few months there was no way the answer to his question could be taken lightly. He was a smart man, despite the way he acted sometimes; he'd put two and two together and get the disastrous answer she wished she could forget.

Then again, she didn't want to forget at all. She wanted it, even with their current situation - especially with their current situation. John shifted and turned to face her again and she realised a little too late that she'd been quiet for longer than she should have.

"Elizabeth," he said and she turned to look at him, his features hidden in the darkness. "What's wrong?"

She swallowed, trying hard to fight off the new wave of tears and fear that was spreading through her body like ice. This wasn't the best way to do this. He'd hate her for what she did. But she had no choice. John's hand came up and he tilted her chin so she could see his eyes in the dim light from the nearby camp.

"You can tell me anything," he offered. Elizabeth closed her eyes and let the tears go, he was worried about her and it showed like a sore thumb. His fingers brushed against her cheek and he soothed her on with just her name on his breath.

"John," she breathed, tempted to just beg him to forget it, but she had to do it. "I'm pregnant."


End file.
